FEB 2006 - ‘DO NOT CALL’ Register – We’ve Already Got One!
1 February 2005
Here at the Marketing Association we run a free Name Removal Service for New Zealanders who wish to be removed from unsolicited mail, telephone and fax communications lists. The service has been running successfully for nearly 20 years and we recently signed an agreement with the Department of Internal Affairs to include the Deaths Index in our Name Removal Register. All the major listbrokers subscribe to the service, receiving monthly updates of people who do not wish to be contacted or are deceased.
There’s been a bit of press recently about the US "Do Not Call" register which was ratified by Federal legislation about three years ago. Since then over 70% of American telephone subscribers are now registered to receive no unsolicited commercial telephone calls. Organisations exempted from this legislation are charities, not-for-profit organisations, researchers and, of course, Government.
It's a catch-22 . . . because whilst on the face of it this is a good social policy, it has put thousands of people out of work. And, whilst the concept of a Government-run service may seem attractive at first sight, it has many drawbacks. Amongst these are:
- Fundamentally, legislation tends to be unwieldy, inflexible and expensive - once it's in place, it is difficult to modify or unravel. Responsible self-regulation is a far better
- If we follow the US model, we would effectively endorse the very calls that most consumers complain about, i.e. charity solicitations and research
- The economic downside, e.g. job losses (and the resulting consequences), and cost of compliance would be significant
Such legislation tends to be the thin end of the wedge. In New Zealand, we have a strong tradition of freedom of communication. Indeed this is embodied within the Bill of Rights. We also have a good record in the field of responsible self-regulation. The Advertising Standards Authority, of which the Marketing Association is a member, is a world-class model of self-regulation. As the DMA, we introduced the Code of Practice for Direct Marketing in New Zealand, and Codes of Practice for emarketing, telemarketing and the use of commercial fax. Now that we have widened our scope to become the Marketing Association, one of our major aims is to educate and encourage New Zealand marketers to carry out professional, socially-responsible marketing. The Name Removal Register is an important part of this philosophy.
In a country of 4 million people, peer pressure and market forces can be much more powerful than Government legislation.
Keith Norris: One of our major aims is to educate and encourage New Zealand marketers to carry out professional, socially-responsible marketing.Click here for more information about the Marketing Association’s Name Removal Register/Deaths Index.
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