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The Direct Marketing Association, together with a number of data

providers, has launched the National Suppression File, a product

designed to improve the accuracy of direct marketing targeting.

The DMA has estimated that pounds 95 million is wasted in the UK each

year by companies mailing people who have moved, and claims that the

direct marketing industry’s image suffers from mistargeted and out-of-

date mail.

This is the first time that this many major data operators have come

together. The consortium includes Claritas UK, Experian, Hays Commercial

Services, Royal Mail, the Read Group and Tri-Direct. A joint statement

reads: ’(The) aim is to stop the problem of out-of-date data in the

direct marketing industry, raise standards in the industry, save money

on misdirected mail and improve the image of the industry in the eyes of

consumers by bringing together a range of data sources to create one

definitive product.’

The file is designed to update the industry by providing information on

key categories: ’gone-aways’ - people who have moved address; ’postal

returns’ - a record of returned mail; ’notifications’ - from consumers

who have moved and from Royal Mail’s redirection service; and the

electoral roll, which flags records that do not match the data from the

previous year.