We are pleased to announce our first Service Bureau partner, I-Centrix. I-Centrix is one of the most responsive, forward-thinking partners with whom I have had the pleasure of doing business.  We were introduced by our industry consultant and within weeks were beta testing the integration of our list into their merge-purge process for one of their clients. Now that the process is tested and refined, we are pleased to announce that any I-Centrix client can provide the Catalog Choice opt-out list to be processed at no additional cost.

Below is the full press release. You can read an article about the release published by DMNews here.

I-Centrix Partners with Catalog Choice
Streamlines Opt-Out Service for Business and Consumer Advantage

EAST GREENBUSH, NY – June 16, 2008 – I-Centrix, a leading provider of database and data management services, today announced its partnership with Catalog Choice (www.catalogchoice.org), a free service which helps consumers control the number of repeat and unsolicited catalog mailings they receive. I-Centrix will use its data technology to maximize Catalog Choice benefits to its catalog clients and to their customers.

Catalog Choice is a not-for-profit organization that has attracted many leading merchants and close to one million registered users. These users register online and can opt-out of individual catalog distributions. Catalog Choice then contacts the catalog providers to communicate the consumers’ preferences.

“I-Centrix adds great value to our process of helping catalogers remove unresponsive names from their mailing lists, creating a cost-effective approach that conserves both business and natural resources, while strengthening customer relationships,” said Chuck Teller, executive director of Catalog Choice.

The business benefits are clear: customer goodwill, eliminating spending waste on unwanted catalogs and rising postage costs, environmental responsibility, and creating a do-not-mail list without legislative imposition. By adding Catalog Choice to its services, I-Centrix will use its data technology to extend these benefits even further.

I-Centrix clients have the ability to use the Catalog Choice mail preference service at no additional cost; the service will be part of the I-Centrix standard merge/purge offering.

Together, I-Centrix and Catalog Choice handle the process. Catalog Choice collects the data and feeds it directly to I-Centrix (for mutual clients that are using this service). I-Centrix brings this information into the merge and produces the appropriate reports, offering consultation and recommendations. I-Centrix has enhanced its reporting to shed light on the interaction of catalog Choice names within the merge/purge.

“Our clients gain significant advantages from our partnership with Catalog Choice, while taking a leadership role in the growing demand for environmental sensitivity,” said Bob Gaito, chief executive officer of I-Centrix. “It makes good business sense and creates stronger customer relationships to respect customers’ wishes and save money by knowing which customers have chosen not to receive which catalog.”

About Catalog Choice
Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the National Resources Defense Council and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund. Catalog Choice’s mission is to reduce the number of repeat and unsolicited catalog mailings, and to promote the adoption of sustainable industry best practices by freely providing Catalog Choice services to both consumers and businesses. http://www.catalogchoice.org

About I-Centrix
I-Centrix services catalog, retail, and other direct marketers with data processing technology designed specifically to support today’s multichannel environment, with capabilities that have attracted the attention of some of the nation’s largest multichannel marketers, including Coldwater Creek, Cornerstone Brands, and Orvis. I-Centrix also provides database marketing expertise and associated services. Visit I-Centrix, a business unit of Haggin Marketing, at http://www.i-centrix.com

About Haggin Marketing
Haggin Marketing provides strategic marketing planning, creative production, media and distribution, and analytics services in a multichannel environment for clients including Adidas, American Express, AT&T, Dell, eBay, FTD, Sunglass Hut International, and more. Haggin Marketing offers sophisticated data management and processing services through its business unit, I-Centrix, and advanced, trigger-based direct marketing solutions through Getmembers.com. The company has over 320 employees in offices nationwide. Visit: http://www.hagginmarketing.com

CONTACT:
Jim McNulty
StandPoint Public Relations
508-481-2024
jmcnulty@standpoint-pr.com

Lenser, a premier, full service multichannel marketing agency, focusing on database marketing and creative services that drive results through multiple channels of distribution- catalog, internet and stores, published their position about Catalog Choice in their May 2008 Newsletter.

Their clients have been asking them what they should do when contacted by Catalog Choice. John Lenser, the President, states in the Newsletter:

While the DMA has taken the position that Catalog Choice is unneeded given their own “Do Not Mail” preference services, I no longer believe this position is in the industry’s best interest. Catalog Choice now has over 736,000 registered accounts of those who have requested that one or more catalogs not be mailed to them and registrations are growing by thousands each week.

Therefore, I am recommending that catalog mailers move forward and accept Catalog Choice’s merchant agreement and accept their file downloads. The negative repercussions for not doing so, at this point, outweigh any advantages of not joining. It is naive to pretend they do not exist.

We are pleased to get the endorsement of Lenser, one of the industry’s leading service providers. The four major issues referenced by John in the Newsletter were 1) the staying power of Catalog Choice, 2) what can merchants do when valuable customers opt-out, 3) fear of Do Not Mail legislation and 4) on-going collaboration between Catalog Choice and the industry.

Time has proven that we are here to stay. As the largest mail preference service, outside the DMA, it is clear that our service is popular among consumers and adoption is growing among merchants. As John says “At this point, we believe they are here to stay and deserve our backing.”

What should merchants do about valuable customers that are now opting-out of the catalog? After many discussions with merchants, Catalog Choice has agreed that merchants can contact customers with a secondary confirmation. The confirmation should not require an action by the consumer, as you have already stated your preference in Catalog Choice, but it can provide other information about how to interact with the merchant such as requesting fewer catalogs or opting-into an email relationship. Merchants such as L.L. Bean and Crate and Barrel are conducting these types of secondary confirmations with customers in their database.

At no time does Catalog Choice release the consumers email address to the merchant. We will be adding a service for merchants whereby Catalog Choice will send an email to a merchant’s customer who has opted-out on behalf of the merchant. This email will not go to all Catalog Choice members, just those who are recent customers of the given merchant. The secondary confirmation process is all part of facilitating the dialog between consumers and merchants around the issue of mail preference.

The third reason that Lenser references in his letter of support is that he recognizes Catalog Choice as a viable market-based approach to mail preference. He states:

We expect that bills will be introduced in Congress and hearings held. If the industry wants to avoid such governmental intrusion, we need to demonstrate that viable alternatives already exist. While the DMA’s mail preference service is the industry’s own internal answer, Catalog Choice represents a solid answer to those that are distrustful of an industry-managed program. The last thing we need is Catalog Choice giving testimony that the industry torpedoed their efforts.

The fourth reason Lenser supports Catalog Choice is that we continue to meet with the Lenser Team and other industry leaders to listen to their input so that together we can use our service to meet “goals of eliminating waste and pollution, but actually makes our mailing programs more cost-effective and profitable.”

We are in total agreement with John’s closing sentence in his piece “A word about Catalog Choice”. John states “By working together, we can make a positive difference.”

Last week, Crate and Barrel rolled out a new feature on their website supporting your preference to receive fewer catalogs or none at all. For those of you that made an opt-out choice on Catalog Choice and have purchased from Crate and Barrel in the past (and you still use the same email that you provided to them), they may send you the following confirmation email shown below. If you would prefer to receive fewer catalogs from Crate & Barrel instead of none, click this link to set your mail preference.

This is an example of the processes that merchants are putting in place to confirm your opt-out requests and provide you with other mailing options that meet your needs. At Catalog Choice, we are putting more services in place to help merchants provide similar services.

Crate & Barrel has been honoring Catalog Choice opt-out requests since March. The email confirmation and mail frequency site are new features that they are rolling out.  This is an example of the hard work that merchants are undertaking to respond to your request.  While it all seems simple in the end, it takes months of design, development and testing to get it right before enhancements like this can be rolled out.  We have been patient with Crate and other merchants who are working on responding to the opt-out requests that you have entered at Catalog Choice and we hope that you are too.

We applaud these new services and hope that other merchants will follow. Catalog Choice members can show their appreciation by going to the Bravo Merchants page and support Crate & Barrel or other merchants working to honor opt-out requests.

The fruits of merchant account managers’ labor are ripening. Every week, more and more merchants are signing up to our free, secure service to honor consumer mail preferences. In the past week, PC Connection, Van Bourgondien, Wisconsin Cheeseman, and Duluth Trading Company have all opened accounts and started the process of honoring consumers requests.

These and the other Bravo Merchants, are saving money in many ways by setting up a merchant account. First, it is easier and faster to honor the request through our secure download rather than transcribing requests sent via our push email fulfillment service. Second, there is no sense in sending a catalog to someone who does not want it. If you want a free merchant account, contact us at merchantservice@catalogchoice.org.

It has been said many times to never doubt that a small group of people can change the world.  As Margaret Mead said, “Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  So, just as soon as the Catalog Choice team rolled out the new feature to alert you to the status of your opt-out requests, many of you saw the red “refused” notation for some of your declined catalogs and decided that you would not take “no” for an answer.  Your calls and emails directly to catalog mailers, urging them to honor Catalog Choice requests, got their attention immediately. Many of you stated boldly to catalogers that you would stop buying from companies that don’t honor Catalog Choice opt-out requests, favoring instead to purchase from catalog mailers that do.  The new “Bravo Merchant”  feature not only gives well deserved kudos to merchants who participate in Catalog Choice but also let’s you click through directly to merchant Web sites to take advantage of ecommerce opportunities. Thanks to you–our dedicated members–catalog mailers are taking notice.  Several companies that previously stated they would not participate in our service have changed their minds.  Literally overnight.  We thank all of you who have taken the time to express your heart-felt views to catalog companies.  They are listening. Your actions are making a very significant difference in our ability, together, to change how the direct marketing industry does business.  Thank you!

At Catalog Choice, we have a team of Merchant Account managers that work all day, every day to deliver the opt-out requests to Merchants.  The team is lead by April Smith of the National Wildlife Federation.  April penned this blog post.

The following message was sent via email to all Catalog Choice members. It is reprinted here for your convenience.

Dear Catalog Choice Members,

Thank you for making Catalog Choice extremely popular! Within three months we’ve become a community of nearly 400,000 strong, opting out of more than five million unwanted catalogs – that’s about 60 million catalogs in a year.

You’ve done your job and we’re doing ours. Catalog Choice is working every day on your behalf to ensure that catalog mailers respect and honor your opt-out requests. But there is more work to do. Here’s where we stand:

We are delivering your mail preferences to every company in our system on a regular basis. We have invited all catalog mailers to participate in Catalog Choice’s free service for merchants.

More than 100 merchants are participating in Catalog Choice’ Merchant program, including some of the largest mailers in the industry. The number of participating merchants is growing every day. You can view a list of merchant account holders here.

Today we introduced a color-coded system in “My Choices” to let you view the status of your requests. Here’s how it works:

- PENDING (Yellow). Until you have activated your Catalog Choice account, by clicking on the link in the activation email you received when signing up, all of your opt-outs will be marked “Pending”. (If you need a new activation email, request one on your My Profile page.)

- PROCESSING (Gray). Opt-outs labeled “Processing” are in the process of being delivered to the merchants.

- CONFIRMED (Green). Opt-outs labeled “Confirmed” have been transmitted to the merchant, who has confirmed its receipt.

- UNCONFIRMED (Yellow). Opt-outs labeled “Unconfirmed” have been delivered to the merchant; however, we are still awaiting confirmation of receipt. Our team will continue to contact these mailers to ensure they activate their Catalog Choice accounts and honor your opt-out requests.

- REFUSED (Red). Opt-outs labeled “Refused” relate to merchants that have refused to honor Catalog Choice opt-out requests. But we are not giving up! We continue to deliver your request to these companies, and we will continue to urge them to honor your mail preferences.  If you wish, you can call these companies directly to request that they both remove your name from their mailing lists and participate in Catalog Choice. For your convenience, we’ve included the customer service number of each non-participating merchant in the status page - just click the red “Refused” label to access this page.

Please let us know if you are still receiving catalogs labeled “Unconfirmed” or “Confirmed” by selecting the “Still Receiving” link in My Choices.Our collective voice is loud and clear, and a growing community of support from individuals like you and leading organizations is our greatest strength. The mailing systems in place throughout the direct marketing industry have been developed over many years. We ask for your patience and appreciate your continued support as we work with merchants to implement new practices to honor your requests.

Sincerely,

The Catalog Choice Team

In our December 24th post, we reported that the Potpourri Group had informed us in writing that they would not accept the opt-out requests from Catalog Choice.

Well, I am pleased to report that last week I received a letter from Jack Rosenfeld, Chairman of the Potpourri Group Inc (PGI). In his letter to me, Jack states:

PGI hereby retracts its earlier position concerning the handling of opt out requests from Catalog Choice.

Jack wants consumers to know:

PGI strongly supports the principle of consumer choice. We believe it is important to our company and our industry to give consumers a choice as to what they receive in their mailboxes, including the right to opt out. We believe that accepting opt out requests is both customer responsive and helps achieve our goal of being environmentally responsible. In addition, since mailings are expensive, accepting opt out requests makes economic sense to every mailer.

We will be looking for PGI to start processing the Catalog Choice opt-out requests. As with all mailing list processes, it will take before the opt-out requests take effect.

Hi! I’m Paul, one of Catalog Choice’s six Merchant Account Managers. My job is to convince catalog companies to accept your opt out requests – not a task for the faint-of-heart!

Catalog companies are a bit like high school students— and Catalog Choice is the new kid at school. So, the companies are gossiping, and trying to find out how to treat the new kid who’s trying to make a lot of new friends.

Each day at the office feels a bit like starting a new school; you don’t know if a company will like you or if they will try to beat you up and take your lunch money. You never know until you actually get someone on the phone—which often requires some creative tactics and lots of patience.

Today, after doing some research, I found the name of the VP of Marketing of a smaller catalog retailer. Using the company’s convenient “Dial By Name” directory, I was able to quickly get “Steve” on the phone. Steve hadn’t heard of our service but was very interested – and even complimented our “simple, well designed, easy to use” webpage. He understood how our service will save his company money and resources. Steve will be creating an account to process your opt out requests.

This is the best-case scenario. Now, a look at the worst:

Yesterday, after having a tough time getting a hold of anyone, I finally got on the phone with James, Director of Public Relations for a major catalog company (which prides itself on supporting “conservation”). The first call lasted 30 seconds. I told him who I was, where I was calling from, and he *literally* said “I’ve heard of your service, and I’m not interested,” and simply hung up.

Since I don’t like taking no for an answer, I called back: “Hey James, this is Paul - did we get cut off?” and he responded “No, I’m just not interested.”

“So, what do I tell the 25,000 people who have expressed their mailing preferences using our site, James?”

“Tell them they can call us directly.”

“Are you saying you want 25,000 phone calls into your call center?”

“I’m saying I’m not interested” (hangs up phone).

These two examples represent both ends of a wide spectrum: some merchants are willing to work with us after a little convincing; others are more diplomatic in explaining why they don’t want to honor your opt out requests; and some simply don’t pick up the phone when I call them – day after day, week after week.

So, what does this mean for the 400,000 individuals who are using our site to opt out of more than five million catalogs? Is the new kid going to get beat up by the big boys and have to hide in the library every day at lunch?

Not at all. There’s a new kid in school – and we’re making friends fast, whether the popular kids like it or not. We are a powerful team of six merchant account managers working hard to fulfill the opt out requests of a community of people that has grown to nearly 400,000 strong – and we are not taking no for an answer.

As you all know, there is currently no legislation that requires merchants to honor the opt-out requests that we are delivering on your behalf.  So, you ask, how will entering your opt-out request at Catalogchoice.org stop the flow of catalogs?  The answer is embodied in  three words - Choice, Respect and Persistence.

Choice - It starts with the power of the people, our community of over 300,000 conscious consumers, who are using our website to state their choice to no longer receive paper catalogs from specific merchants.  Consumers are doing a tremendous job at stating their choices - we are rapidly approaching 4 million opt-out requests.

Respect - We depend on the good faith of merchants to honor your choices.  Many merchants are working with us to incorporate the opt-out requests into their mailing process.  Due to the busy holiday season, some merchants have requested that they need additional time to add the requests to their do not mail list.

Persistence -  Our Merchant Service Account team spends every day emailing, faxing and calling merchants to ensure that the merchants have received our opt-out requests and are putting the names into their do not mail list.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Our team is hard at work processing your opt-out requests. So, we thought we would share with you how we are making this happen.

First, a little history. When we started developing Catalog Choice we knew that the best approach was to build a solution that would be easy for merchants to use. That meant allowing companies to obtain opt-out requests and feed the names directly into their mailing list process. After extensive research we developed a Merchant Account service that makes obtaining opt-out lists seamless for catalog companies.

At the same time, we realized that it is unreasonable to expect that all merchants will sign up for our service. Because we have an obligation to our members to fulfill their opt-out requests—and because we know most companies wish to honor these requests—we also developed a Merchant Notification service that automatically sends emails to the respective merchant for each individual who opts out of a catalog.

The Merchant Account service is a more cost-effective approach for catalog companies since it avoids transcribing names from email messages into do-not-mail lists. It goes without saying, if merchants find it difficult to transfer names, the adoption rate will be lower.

As we developed Catalog Choice last summer, we contacted several catalog companies and described our Merchant Service plan. At that time, merchants did not fully understand the benefit of our service and they wanted to take a wait and see approach before signing up.

Well the consumer has spoken and they want an easy way to choose what catalogs get into their mailbox. Three weeks into the launch of Catalog Choice, we have more than 80,000 consumers opting out of nearly 500,000 catalogs. With this kind of broad consumer support we expect that merchants would rather subscribe to our machine-readable service instead of continuing to be bombarded with opt-out email requests.

So this coming week, we will launch Catalog Choice for Merchants—the first hosted mail order catalog opt-out service for the industry. As with our consumer service, we’ve made this service free and easy to use. It is hard to argue with that price.

Merchants: We represent tens of thousands of customers. Some of these people no longer wish to receive your catalogs in the mail. Others receive duplicates and want to request only one catalog copy. Others just prefer to shop online. Claim your Merchant Account and we will deliver opt-out requests in a format that easily integrates with your mailing list management process.

In the weeks ahead we will identify the first 50 catalog companies that claim their merchant account. If you are a catalog company, you can contact us at Merchantservice@catalogchoice.org to make sure we have the correct contact information for you. Look for our email to your customer service department announcing your Merchant Account. Together, we can save natural resources and save money. We appreciate your participation in Catalog Choice!