APR 2008 - Chairman's Report to the AGM 2008
2007 – The Journey Continues
At our last AGM we referred to the 2006 year as the Year of Step Change. In 2007 the journey has continued very successfully. This year the New Zealand Marketing Association has achieved many successes and several very important milestones. I will address these points more fully – but the highlights are:
People
- The recruitment of a successor to Keith Norris, our CEO for the past 16 years, who has led this organisation to the success it has achieved to date.
- The appointment of Sue McCarty as our new Chief Executive.
This appointment has been a significant challenge for the board. In 2007 we engaged a professional executive search firm, Hobson Leavy, to undertake the assignment for us. We did this in the knowledge that by engaging highly qualified professionals we would end up with the best result – and we have. This was a hotly contested recruitment process – with a long list of 100 candidates, a short list of 12 and a very difficult decision to make based on the extremely high calibre of the candidates we interviewed. Sue took up the reins early in January and in 2½ short months she has already made a significant contribution to the organisation. On behalf of our members, sponsors, the national office and board – welcome Sue – we know you will be an outstanding leader and chief for this association.
- Board – I would like to thank the board members for their continued support, dedication and strategic input. In particular I would like to acknowledge the additional efforts of the recruitment subcommittee (Todd Hunter, Debra Hall, Jason McCracken) in successfully recruiting our new CEO.
Now we will turn to 2007 – the year in review
Financial Performance
Financially, 2007 was a challenging year for many and 2008 looks likely to play out the same. In the last half of 2007 we started to see indicators of a slowing in the economy – retail failed to fire up to Christmas and many retailers experienced little or no growth. The headlines this morning read “NZ shares slump to their lowest point in a year”. We are facing a poor consumer outlook, high inflation, the drought and the high-profile collapses of finance companies, which is all adding to investor and consumer caution.
We know that in these conditions companies will often be required to reduce expenditure which can impact on our revenue – from events and education, to membership fees. Noting this, it is prudent for not-for-profit organisations such as ours to review its financial practices and policies to ensure we can remain financially sound in a tougher economy.
In 2007 many parts of our organisation continued to perform extremely well and drive revenue, however our balance sheet shows that we have eaten into our reserves by $60,000.
There were three major contributing factors:
- After a review of our debt provisioning, we have decided to tighten up our policies. Previously we have carried member debt forward, however we are no longer going to act as a bank for some members and as such have written off bad debt that had been carried forward.
- Recruitment costs
- Our principal sponsor realigned their level of support
Our current assets and cash flow are both in a satisfactory position and we have more robust process in place for 2008 for the collection of monies owed.
I would like to acknowledge the work undertaken by the Resource Management Committee, chaired by Todd Hunter, along with Debra Hall, our accountant Carolyn Finny and our CEO Sue McCarty. In particular, on behalf of the board and our members, I would like to thank Todd and Debra for the many extra hours they have put into not only their board directorships but to the RMC subcommittee and ensuring our financial robustness in this coming year.
Membership
Membership remained relatively stable during 2007. Your Board has decided to take a stricter line in rescinding the membership of those members whose subscription fees are in arrears for more than 3 months. This move is in line with the constitution. The Board has taken the view that it is unreasonable for members who pay their subscriptions promptly to subsidise those who do not.
Chief Executive Sue McCarty will outline new initiatives in the membership acquisition and retention areas in her report.
Member Communications
The Marketing Association website has continuously ranked highly in Nielsen//NetRatings' Market Intelligence NZ domestic traffic reports. In August 2007 it was rated the top site for people who list their occupation as a business manager or executive and #2 in February 2008.
Member e.newsletter, SNAPshot, regularly achieves high readership and our member magazine, DLB, consistently receives praise for its content and style. There will be very few magazines of this quality which are produced and delivered to the membership at no extra cost. The magazine is edited in-house by our Services Manager, Sylvia Devlin and advertising revenue and sponsorship cover all the production costs.
Sponsors & Business Partners
It is because of the support and assistance of a family of business partners that your Association is able to deliver a comprehensive range of member services. These partners are committed to lifting the image of marketing and deserve your consideration when choosing suppliers and service providers. Our gratitude goes to our Principal Sponsor, New Zealand Post; National Business Partners apnfinda, Candida, Kinetic121, MessageMedia, PMP Limited, Simplicity and Telnet. Other significant supporters are Marketing Impact, Jericho, FujiXerox and Acxiom (New Zealand).
Our thanks also go to the member organisations which support and sponsor the Association at regional level - Marketing Impact, Kinetic121, Blackwood Communications, Crowne Plaza, Orangebox, AIM Proximity, Wises NZ, and Database Communications.
Regulatory
2007 was a busy year on the political/regulatory front. We have been involved in issues as wide as anti-spam, billboards, alcohol, public registers, major events and land transport bill amendments. In each of these areas there have been significant implications for marketers. You will be aware that the Marketing Association’s philosophy is that responsible self-regulation is far more effective than legislation in a modern economic society.
To quote from a recent submission we made on proposed amendments to the Public Health Bill, “Self-regulation occurs when industry sectors or other non-Governmental organisations agree to adopt best practice guidelines which embrace the prevailing social and legal standards. The success of self-regulation is driven by a commitment to uphold standards of commercial behaviour which have been set by the industry itself. Market forces also play a large role in determining the success of self-regulation. A particularly good example in New Zealand is the Advertising Standards Authority which both sets codes and operates an effective public complaints system.
Imposed regulation often sets in train a motivation to find legal loopholes and thus avoid compliance. This is not confined to industry; it is a human trait. Under the legislative system, citizens uphold the law but continuously look for ways to stretch the boundaries.”
Our work in this area has borne significant fruit. A good example is the Government anti-spam select committee incorporating many of our recommendations into the final legislation and the Auckland City Council completely reviewing their proposed billboards bylaw. We work with many other industry organisations on these and other initiatives.
Education and Continuing Professional Development
Education continues to be an important part of the Association’s work. The Certificate of Direct Marketing is now in its 20th year and well over 3,000 marketing professionals have enhanced their skills by graduating from this course. During 2007 it became increasingly obvious that there was a demand for online and digital marketing training. Practical eMail Marketing attracted more than double the registrations of the previous year and the new Essential Online Marketing course was so popular, it has now been expanded into a full-scale Certificate of eMarketing course.
The newly-introduced Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme has had an encouraging start and plans are afoot to develop a significant international partnership to enhance the status of New Zealand marketers.
Events and Awards
The New Zealand Direct and Interactive Awards go from strength to strength. A complete review of both the RSVP and NEXUS Awards was carried out during 2007, resulting in category changes and a much more streamlined judging process. Over 40 of our top marketing professionals were involved in the 2007 Awards judging and we are extremely fortunate to have the support of so many dedicated people. Feedback from the 750 attendees at the 2007 Awards celebration is that these Awards continue to rate as the outstanding industry event of the year.
Two new events were added to our large range of events during the year – Smarter Data, a one-day educational event focused on the marketing value of usable data, and Copy Essentials run by Australian Jon Maxim. Both were outstandingly successful both in terms of attendance and financial return and will be repeated in 2008.
Regions
Our volunteer Regional committees do an excellent job as the interface of the Association in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Particular congratulations are due to Tim Kerr and his dedicated team for turning a historical financial deficit into a surplus contribution by developing a range of topical workshops.
Special Interest Groups
The Association has three special interest groups, all of which are particularly active. The rapidly-growing Data Advisory Network (DAN) has been responsible for the introduction of industry best practice guidelines as well as instigating the highly successful Smarter Data seminar and hosting the DAN Dialogue series. The eMarketing Network revised the best practice guidelines for email marketing as well as continuing to host the very successful Brainy Breakfast series. The Agency Council looks after the interests of our agency members, particularly those involved in direct and interactive marketing. Apart from leading the review of the RSVP Awards, they have run several successful networking events and developed relationships with Auckland University, AUT and the Axis Adschool to foster young talent and by way of internships, give them an entrée to the industry.
National Office Team and Volunteers
December 2007 saw two significant milestones - Sylvia Devlin completed 20 years’ service with the Association and Keith Norris, our chief executive for the last 16 years, handed over the reins to his successor, Sue McCarty.
We have acknowledged Sylvia’s contribution to the organisation at the time, however we must take the opportunity now to thank Sylvia for her first two decades and note that she has done a fine job of embarking on her 3rd! Sylvia, sincerely, thank you for everything you do for us all – you are a wonderful asset to our national office team.
And now we turn to Keith. When Keith joined the DMA it was pretty much just the ‘Keith and Sylvia’ show. Over the past 16 years, Keith has manned the helm of this organisation and led it into the 21st century. On Keith’s watch we have redefined our market position, ensured we remain relevant to our members and best represent their needs, resulting in the evolution of the NZDMA to the fine organisation it is today – the New Zealand Marketing Association – representing over 4000 members in this country.
Keith has now taken up the role of Director of Public Affairs and has been invited to join the Marketing Association board. We are delighted with this outcome, as the organisation is able to continue to leverage the years of legislative knowledge, the local and central government relationships as well as those with other associations, that Keith has established.
Keith – on behalf our members (past and present), sponsors, national office team and the board – thank you. You have been a wonderful leader and we now look forward to the contribution you will continue to make in your new role.
May I conclude by expressing my thanks to the Board, our sponsors and the national office team, who with over 100 volunteers, help to make the Marketing Association the success it clearly is. We are on the verge of an exciting new phase in our history and I look forward to the coming year.
Simone Iles
Board Chairman
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