Wondering who to buy from this holiday season?
Consider one of the “Cool Companies” that have pledged to honor do not mail and do not trade requests through Catalog Choice.
We have organized the companies by product category here:
https://www.catalogchoice.org/cool_catalogs
We’ve all shopped online only to be frustrated weeks later when we receive the company’s catalog in the mail. It’s not that we don’t love the brand, it’s just that we didn’t expect to be added to the mailing list. We were never asked.
Almost all marketers ask if you want to sign up for their email news. But less common are those companies that inquire at the point-of-sale if you’d like to opt-in to their catalog. We here at Catalog Choice think that online marketers should use the merchandise check-out opportunity to request a consumer’s mailing preferences. It’s a clear and simple opportunity.
That’s why I was impressed when I shopped online the other day at prAna. In addition to my great job at Catalog Choice, I teach yoga a couple times a week. PrAna’s yoga clothes rock, but I don’t need their catalog. When I created my online account during check-out they popped up a simple form that clearly asked if I’d like to subscribe to their catalog. Now that’s the best in permission marketing. Thank you, prAna!
We know there are other great brands out there that are doing a good job of asking about your mail preferences when you shop online. Let us know the best (and worst) of what you find!
StrikeIron is a great company we’re now working with to cleanse addresses. Cleansed addresses (that meets USPS standards) will mean that more opt-out requests are honored. We are currently cleansing over 2.3 million addresses in our system and will be enhancing the New Address form to cleanse the address in real time. This is good for the consumer, company, community and the environment. The press release below describes how we are working together.
Cary, NC and Berkeley, CA (PRWEB) June 21, 2011
StrikeIron, the market and technology leader for cloud-based contact data verification solutions, has teamed up with Catalog Choice, the industry pioneer in mail efficiency and privacy control, to streamline its services.
Catalog Choice has integrated StrikeIron’s data quality solution to improve the quality and accuracy of Catalog Choice’s more than 2.3 million mailing addresses. As Catalog Choice members select their mail preferences, the StrikeIron Address Verification cloud service will cleanse existing data and verify incoming entries in the Cloud, eliminating the need for ongoing data updates. The vetted and incorrect data will be presented to users in real time for verification. The cleansed address data is then sent to specified marketers when opt-out requests are made through the Catalog Choice Mail Preference Service.
“Mail sent to erroneous addresses is a waste for companies, consumers, communities and the environment. Clean and accurate suppression lists are an industry best practice, ensuring that direct mail only reaches its intended recipient,” said Chuck Teller, Executive Director, Catalog Choice. “StrikeIron provides a great infrastructure to help us more quickly and accurately verify the opt-out data we are providing to marketers.”
Through StrikeIron’s Address Verification service, customers have seen reductions in returned mail as well as more successful first-time delivery of the mail and packages they send. In addition, Address Verification can help solve address data quality issues across multiple departments in almost any organization, allowing companies to save money, conserve resources and market responsibly.
“It is my pleasure to announce that StrikeIron’s solutions will now be available throughout the catalog and mailing industry,” said Sean O’Leary, President and CEO, StrikeIron, Inc. “The use of the StrikeIron application will enhance the Catalog Choice service, and help companies improve their list quality.”
Founded in 2003, StrikeIron is the first company with a cloud based, on-demand, data delivery platform, cleansing millions of customer records monthly for major retailers and marketing companies. Since launching its free service in 2007, Catalog Choice has connected more than 1.4 million consumer members and 4,100 direct marketing companies to provide individuals greater control over the materials they receive, in turn reducing unwanted mail, saving natural resources and protecting their privacy.
About StrikeIron
StrikeIron™ provides innovative Data-as-a-Service solutions enabling accurate business data and communication functionality. The cloud-based data quality solutions allow business users, enterprise IT professionals, and application developers access to customized, real-time functionality within enterprise, Web, and cloud-based applications.
About Catalog Choice
Founded in 2007 to provide consumers greater control over the marketing materials that enter their mailboxes, Catalog Choice is the world’s largest preference and privacy portal with more than 1.4 million consumer members and 4,100 direct marketing companies. By reducing unnecessary mail and phone books, Catalog Choice’s free and low-cost services reduce deforestation, greenhouse gases, solid waste and water consumption. Catalog Choice, a non-profit organization based in Berkeley, Calif., is supported by grants from the Overbrook Foundation, Kendeda Fund, Merck Family Fund and Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, as well as donations from members.
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The following checklist for a credible self-regulatory scheme was published by the National Consumer Council (now part of Consumer Focus). In our continued efforts to make our consumer preference program work from the industry’s perspective, it is useful for businesses to read the checklist to understand why working with Catalog Choice is a vote for a credible self-regulatory program.
1. The scheme must be able to command public confidence.
2. There must be strong external consultation and involvement with all relevant stakeholders in the design and operation of the scheme.
3. As far as practicable, the operation and control of the scheme should be separate from the institutions of the industry.
4. Consumer, public interest and other independent representatives must be fully represented (if possible, up to 75 per cent or more) on the governing bodies of self-regulatory schemes.
5. The scheme must be based on clear and intelligible statements of principle and measurable standards – usually in a Code – which address real consumer concerns. The objectives must be rooted in the reasons for intervention (outlined in chapter 1.)
6. The rules should identify the intended outcomes.
7. There must be clear, accessible and well-publicised complaints procedures where breachof the code is alleged.
8. There must be adequate, meaningful and commercially significant sanctions for non-observance.
9. Compliance must be monitored (for example through complaints, research and compliance letters from chief executives).
10. Performance indicators must be developed, implemented and published to measure the scheme’s effectiveness.
11. There must be a degree of public accountability, such as an Annual Report.
12. The scheme must be well publicised, with maximum education and information directed at consumers and traders.
13. The scheme must have adequate resources and be funded in such a way that the objectives are not compromised.
14. Independence is vital in any redress scheme which includes the resolution of disputes between traders and consumers.
15. The scheme must be regularly reviewed and updated in the light of changing circumstances and expectations.
I know it’s not Christmas time, but the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” lyrics are, annoyingly, popping up in my head as I contemplate this blog post. Corny, I know. But there are some poignant correlations between this traditional holiday ditty and the role that Catalog Choice plays in the world of direct mail. Since we came to town, we sure know which mailers are naughty and which ones are nice. We see who’s awake, paying attention to your mail preferences. We see who’s sleeping, indifferent to our members’ opt-out requests.
Well, merchants, you better watch out, because you don’t want to find yourself on the Catalog Choice bad behavior list. Let’s face it. We are the only independent enforcer in town. While the CAN-SPAM act regulates commercial emails and the National Do-Not-Call Registry regulates telemarketing, there is no law governing direct mail. The only federal standards we have, until the passage of more stringent privacy laws, are the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines of Notice and Choice detailed in the Fair Information Practice Principals (known as the FIPPs).
Every day, we read company privacy policies and benchmark them against the FIPPs. We watch those companies that pull their Catalog Choice suppression files to remove names from their mailing lists. We see the number of complaints companies receive from members about still getting mail for which they made a previous opt-out request. We know when and how companies reply to these complaints. We know which companies block our communications. And we take action when companies aren’t complying with our standards. We take compliance and enforcement seriously. It is our job to act on our member’s behalf to deliver opt-out requests and ensure that mailers’ respect consumer privacy and choice.
Yes, we prefer delivering gifts over coal. We work directly with our participating companies to resolve any issues collaboratively. When we cannot get the complaint resolved, they are entered into the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which allows authorities to look for trends in deceptive and unfair business practices. We have never made a public “naughty” list of direct mailers despite countless requests. But we are taking steps to get tougher and more public on these issues. It’s only fair. No marketer on the nice list should be at a disadvantage because other companies fail to respect consumer choice.
We work with catalog mailers and their associations to make sure that all companies honor choice. The American Catalog Mailers Association executive director authored a message to his members last week on Catalog Choice. The opinion piece is in response to our efforts over the past three weeks to get dozens companies to confirm that they are honoring opt-out choices. Since our outreach efforts directly affect the direct mail industry, we made sure that both the ACMA and the DMA are informed of our efforts. The ACMA invested a great deal of time talking to companies and answering questions over the past three weeks. In our opinion, this is time well spent on an important business issue – privacy. Some, but not all, of the companies we contacted have engaged in discussions with us and are pledging to honor requests going forward. It is unfortunate that after three years of extensive outreach and success collaborating with companies, we still have to call on our industry partners to encourage their colleagues to honor consumer choices that are delivered through our portal. The good news is that out of the 3,100 companies in our service, we are down to only a few that still need convincing.
You can read the ACMA opinion piece titled “Catalogers on Catalog Choice: Love It? Hate It? Leave It? or Embrace It?” on the ACMA’s site. Or you can read it below:
We have the opportunity to work with all of the top retailers in the United States since almost every company uses direct mail in some manner. From the very beginning of Catalog Choice, L.L. Bean has been a steadfast supporter of consumer choice and an industry leader.
What does leadership look like? For the customer,
For the industry, LL Bean provides -
If every company was as cool as LL Bean, our job would be easy.
People are often confused about how to manage their privacy and get their name and address removed from mailing lists. Turns out that companies are adding to the confusion.
Companies often tell consumers to go to the DMA to get their name removed from mailing lists. Here is the DMA’s position on this as set forth in a recent email from the DMA Corporate & Social Responsibility group:
Do Not Pass the Buck! Consumers continue to be sent to the DMA by companies who are “passing the buck…” Company representatives are telling consumers that DMA is the source of the data and if the consumer wants to be removed from the company’s mailing list, the individual must contact DMA. We cannot help consumers get off of your individual list. (emphasis added)
As a reminder, please ensure that you train your staff to input consumer requests directly into your internal preference files. The DMA does not issue marketing lists and is not the source of your data. If a consumer asks to be removed from your list, you need to ensure that you have an in-house suppression process in place. For consumers that want to be removed from all mailings, these consumers may visit http://www.dmachoice.org to add themselves to industry-wide suppression files. Thank you for your assistance to provide proper help to consumers!
Catalog Choice is designed to help consumers manage their privacy and choose which company marketing lists to leave their name on and which ones to get off of. Without the help of Catalog Choice, you have to contact hundreds of companies that you do business with to instruct them how you want the to handle your name and address.
That is an onerous task. It starts with finding the contact information for all the companies. Next you have to read their privacy policy to figure out how to opt-out. A 2008 Carnegie Mellon University study estimates that it would cost $365 billion in lost leisure and productivity time if everyone read the privacy policies of the web sites they visited. You can read the entire study here or a synopsis here.
Lastly, you have to contact the company with your request. Our studies show that it takes over 5 minutes per company. If you do this for 100 companies that is an investment of 500 minutes or 8.3 hours. At 8 hours a day, that is a full days you would have to spend to control how companies use your name and address. Very few people will invest this amount of time to manage their privacy.
So, that is why we built Catalog Choice. Citizens want to stop the flow of unwanted mail, but like recycling they want it to be easy. So we figured if we applied some good old fashion ingenuity and automation, we could make this process easy enough for people to do. It is a win for everyone. Less clutter in your home, less wasted marketing dollars for companies and less wasted resources for the world.
Catalog Choice receives lots of kudos from our members about how the service has made a real difference in cleaning out mailbox clutter. Thank you! But over the years we’ve also received comments from consumers that opt-out requests were not honored and that the service failed to live up to expectations. Ouch! Our small, dedicated team takes this feedback seriously and we never stop looking for ways to make Catalog Choice work better for you.
By and large, most mailers do the right thing. They don’t want to send mail that doesn’t interest you and they honor opt-outs made through Catalog Choice. We appreciate all the companies that demonstrate responsible marketing by respecting your mail preferences. But whether it’s an unintentional data matching error, resending marketing material if you purchase from the company recently (even on the Internet), or at worst, a company that blatantly blocks or ignores requests from Catalog Choice, we know that sometimes the unwanted mail keeps on coming.
To address the issue, Catalog Choice made an enhancement in October that significantly improves our ability to track compliance and gives you a way to take action if companies are not honoring your requests. We have been testing the effectiveness of our new complaint model and are pleased to report that it works quite well.
Here’s how it works…
If you made an opt-out request at least 90 days ago but you are still receiving the marketing material in the mail, you can now submit a complaint to that company through Catalog Choice.
To submit a complaint, go to Your Choices, use the filter to find the Company and Select Details button, as shown below.
The complaint button only appears in your Activity Statement 90 days after the request is made. Ninety days gives the company a reasonable amount of time to remove you from their mailing list. Here’s a sample of the Activity Statement, which is a detailed record of each of your preference requests, the company’s receipt of the request, and the current status. Below is a picture of the top part of the Activity Statement. See the complaint button?
Click the Complaint Button and fill out our streamlined complaint form. It is best to have the repeat mailing with you so that the company can find your name on the recent mailing list.
Here is an image of the complaint form. Make sure you select the correct name and address if you have made requests under multiple name/address combinations.
For many companies, the complaint is sent to a specific person in the company that has been assigned to address Catalog Choice complaints. We request that the company reply to the complaint email within 30 days to confirm that your opt-out request will be honored. If the company needs more information in order to process the request, you’ll get an inquiry back from them.
We work closely with companies to get the complaints resolved in a timely manner. Since opt-out requests and complaints are submitted according to the terms of the company’s privacy policy, it is deceptive for a company to say that they honor opt-outs but not actually do so. As a result, any complaint not resolved in 30 days will be entered into the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, if you authorize us to do so at the bottom of the complaint form. While the FTC does not respond to individual complaints, this consumer complaint network allows authorities to look for trends relating to companies engaged in deceptive and unfair business practices.
This robust complaint system empowers you, the consumer, to communicate your mail preferences loud and clear if they have not been honored. The enhancement also ensures a level playing field for all companies. No mailer who honors choice should be at a marketing disadvantage because other companies fail to respect your mail preferences.
Catalog Choice now delivers mail preference requests to more than 3,000 companies. Hundreds of these direct mailers participate in Catalog Choice by formally committing to respect your opt-out requests. Here are more terrific brands that pledge to honor your mail preferences. Help us welcome these direct mailers to our service by visiting their websites and checking out their products and services. Many of these brands offer terrific holiday gifts!
