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YES

Chris Gordon, chairman and group chief executive, WWAV Rapp Collins

Not so long ago, direct marketing had a plethora of trade bodies, each

representing a section of the industry. When a few far-sighted industry

figures suggested DM would be better represented by a single body the

reaction was predictably dismissive, certainly from the trade

associations themselves.

The issue took root, however, and an industry poll found widespread

support for the idea. Yet it took some time before the associations

themselves acknowledged this and longer still for the DMA to be born.

But born it was.

Some nine years down the line it's difficult to imagine how we could

have had it any other way. Now more than ever we need an organisation

which helps DM to flourish and enhances its reputation. One

organisation.

Not two. It is time for the DMA and IDM to merge.

The DMA says it exists to "raise the stature of the DM industry". How do

you do that? Surely one of the key ways is to provide education and

training for the profession and to set, promote and uphold high

standards. And if that statement rings a bell it's because it's the

IDM's raison d'etre.

The reality is that the difference between the two bodies is

artificial.

It's an open secret that, beyond a feeble "joint memorandum", the two

bodies are kept apart by politics, a situation that has existed from the

birth of the DMA. But today there is no room for artificial points of

differentiation, there only to preserve the status quo. It's an issue

the DMA, at least, acknowledges, albeit privately.

And you only have to look at the IPA to see how a trade organisation can

successfully combine representation with training. Indeed CEOs now rank

training as the most important service offered by the IPA.

This industry has always had a skills shortage. The only difference

today is the scale of the problem and the fact that in encompassing

areas like CRM we need greater skill sets. This needs to be tackled

coherently.

As the most dynamic part of the marketing communications mix, the

challenges the DM industry faces have never been more demanding. We need

support like never before. We need an organisation that gives us top

level representation, education, training and development. There is no

room for two separate organisations. A merger would see the industry

truly unified - it is the only way forward if DM is to continue to

flourish.

NO

Mark Fiddes, creative director, Davies Little Crowley Fiddes

Years ago, two wildly different agencies merged. Stuffed-shirt Darcy

McManus Masius wed blousy Benton and Bowles. Their union was described

as "the Hindenberg coming to the aid of the Titanic".

Yet the relationship possessed all the right stimuli; common income

sources, geographic diversity and a big outside threat - "desperation in

search of opportunity"as a venture capital friend called it. Four years

later, DMB&B was awarded ±±¾©Èü³µpk10's Agency of the Year.

In the case of the IDM and DMA, I fail to see any of these

pre-conditions.

Both have made remarkable achievements. Both have the ear of marketing

and new media alike. And they don't lose money.

So where's this merger talk coming from? Let's start with this

recession's hot topics: recruitment and training. I wager that those who

cry for merger score low on both counts.

Several years ago, the IDM set up a Graduate Apprentice Programme,

designed to create leaders in direct marketing. The number of agencies

involved has since dropped dramatically.

That's why now, more than ever, direct marketing needs an independent,

academically-accredited body that is dedicated to the needs of the

individual, not the interests of mass mailers - an organisation that

leads the world in DM education and thought leadership.

There are courses founded by IDM running in Australia, the US, the

Pacific Rim and South Africa. It is a long way from heated arguments in

smoke-filled rooms about postal discounts.

We must recognise two separate but entirely laudable objectives:

lobbying on behalf of DM businesses to regulatory bodies and improving

the understanding, motivation and output of direct marketers worldwide.

To chop up and reassemble these different cultures would create a

Franken-quango. Imagine it happening elsewhere; the CBI, for example,

stitched onto the London Business School.

Last year, I was at a careers evening with the retiring Adrian Vickers

(AMV) for final year students of our old college in Oxford. Dazzled by

starting salaries of pounds 35k they asked why anyone would become a

marketer on half that amount. Adrian smiled and said, "It's the nearest

you'll come to being a student for the rest of your life." With an

independent IDM, I hope studenthood continues to be an option for us

all.