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

Many months ago, when we launched our service there was an active debate in the industry about accepting requests from our service. Read more about what spurred the debate here. But when almost one million people enter over 12 million requests to be removed from mailings and mailers are provided with a free and secure way to integrate these requests into their mailing process the results of the debate become clear - it is time to respect the consumers’ choice.

Thanks to sound reporting by the direct mail industry press we are moving beyond the debate. DMNews published recently published an article following our press briefing last week and it provides an excellent perspective from mailers that are using our service. You can read the whole article here. A couple quotes worth highlighting include:

“We think that [Catalog Choice is] a great benefit both to our customers and to us – to the bottom line and to the environment,” said Carolyn Beem, manager of public affairs for L.L. Bean.

Andrew Chane, VP of Tools for Wellness as quoted as saying:

“It helps with our postage costs, which as you know, have done nothing but go up and become more of a challenge over the last year or so to really manage,” said Chane. “We certainly don’t want to keep mailing to people that aren’t interested in what we’re about.”

Larry O’Connor, CEO of Other World Computing notes:

“Catalog Choice was a good option for our eco-conscious customers out there was well as people who just don’t want any sort of printed material regardless,” said O’Connor. He added that Other World Computing collects data from Catalog Choice a couple of weeks before it sends out a catalog. “We’ve had no issues with the data that they’ve provided us either.”

The DMNews article notes that “both Other World Computing and Tools for Wellness said they feature the Catalog Choice logo on their Web site and in their catalogs. It’s a way to show consumers that Tools for Wellness is concerned about the environment and about wasting catalogs and other resources, Chane said.”

The article provided the perspective from the DMA as well. It notes that the association also provides a mail preference service, DMAChoice.org, which prevented over 930 million mailings last year. This is great news.

The article raises two troubling rumors that the DMA continues to promote despite numerous discussions we have had with them.

Rumor 1: Using Member names for another purpose

“The DMA is concerned that Catalog Choice might use the names to raise funds for environmental groups that are pushing do not mail legislation, Rappaport said. “The concern is they’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing or they’re a Trojan horse and a catalog that works with them is contributing to their potential demise, he said.”

Rumor 2: Setting up Consumer accounts is bad

Donn is also quoted questioning the consumer’s need to set up an account with our service: he asked, why does Catalog Choice insist on retaining the names of people who have signed up for the service? Rappaport said that the DMA had met with Catalog Choice to talk about ways that the two organizations could work together, but discussions broke down over this issue.

Here is the answer to both of these issues:

1. We offer a free service to consumers and merchants and our agreement with the Members is to only use their Personally Identifiable Information (industry lingo for your name and address) to facilitate the mail preference choice that the Member makes on our site. We do not rent or sell names.

2. Users register at our site so that we can authenticate and validate their account, so that they can enter their mail preference requests as unwanted catalogs arrive at their home, so that they can return to the site and modify their request, and so that they can monitor the responses of the merchants. Registration is a basic feature of any Internet-based service in which the consumer is using to communicate their mail preferences. Providing consumers with a secure account is good.

We are moving beyond the debate and providing a useful service for consumers and merchants.

… reads the headline in an article published by Ken Magill for the retail media press Multichannel Merchant. Coming on the heels of an industry press briefing hosted by Catalog Choice, Ken published this article clarifying for the industry the benefits of working with Catalog Choice.

The article’s lead sentence kills one myth that has been floating around about Catalog Choice:

The last thing Catalog Choice’s executives want to do is kill the mail-order industry, they said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Ken notes that Catalog Choice …

wants to help catalogers clean unresponsive names from their files and broker better relationships with customers who want to buy from them, but want to conduct the relationship electronically or simply want fewer catalogs.

and he references the changes that are occurring in the market place by quoting a statement I made during the press briefing.

“We understand the analytics historically, but it’s a new world now and this is an opportunity for a one-to-one marketing program where you can reach out directly to these customers and at the same time eliminate customers that have no interest in your catalog.”

Our press briefing, merchant meetings, conference attendance and other out reach activities are all part of the effort to make Catalog Choice work for merchants and consumers alike.  We are showing that honoring customer choices is good for business and the environment.

Day by day more and more merchants are signing up for our free service, pulling down their file and saving money by not mailing unwanted catalogs.

The merchants added in May include home furnishings giant IKEA, wristwatch specialist Tourneau, greeting cards leader Hallmark, book publisher Abbey Press as well as Sportsman’s Market, Blue Gold Traditions, Dynamic Living, American Country Home, Celebrate Express, Leisure Living, PetEdge, Klockit, Edmunds Scientific, Aqua Superstore, Kripalu, Eurway, CDW Kids, Action Bag, Mary of Puddin Hill, Keepsake Quilting, Other World Computing and SimplySoles. You can link directly to these and other participating merchants from the Bravo Merchants page.

Even if the merchant has not signed up for our service, we are using other means to deliver your opt-out requests. Some merchants have called to sign up after hearing from consumers who encourage them to honor their request through our service. Thanks for the help.

We have high hopes for June as we continue executive level discussions with the biggest merchants in the country.

Sam Meers wrote a clear and concise post about Catalog Choice over at his blog “Smoke & Meers”.

Sam states in his post titled A Win/Win/Win:

There are lots of benefits to this idea. First, it just makes sense. If people don’t want a catalog, then they shouldn’t receive it. It will either go in the trash or, if we’re lucky, get recycled, which uses energy that would have never have been needed if the catalog had never been produced and mailed in the first place.

But the thing I love about this idea is that it puts the decision in the hands of the consumer, not the company. And because it is done so well, both the consumer and the company benefit. Consumers get only the catalogs they desire and companies don’t waste money and natural resources sending a catalog to people who will only throw it away.

I raise my glass and toast the founders. Well done!

Sam - our glasses are raised to you, thanks!

Catalog Choice Team

We are at the Annual Conference for Catalog Mailers in Orlando this week.  We regret not having a booth on the exhibit floor, but we are busy meeting with merchants and service providers.  The tenor at this event is much less heated than we experienced at the NEMOA event this spring.  In fact, one active industry blogger reports that: “Attendees overwhelmingly shared with me that they were willing to speak with or work with Catalog Choice — only a few individuals expressed frustration with constant calls from Catalog Choice to accept opt-outs.” Another industry blogger reports: From my vantage point, this socially-green movement is inevitable, has gained critical mass and should be worked with.

From out vantage point, we are seeing the tide shift to more and more companies honoring consumer’s requests to no longer receive a catalog in the mail.  While you may still be getting catalogs that you have opted-out of on this site, rest assured that we are contacting the merchants everyday to get them to honor your requests.  Progress is being made.

The graph above shows the steady growth in the number of registered members at Catalog Choice.

We are rapidly approaching a major milestone - one million registered users. As of this moment, we are just over 825,000 members. When do you think we will hit one million? Use the comments below to let us know.

You can help us get there by using the Invite a Friend feature.

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.

In an effort to better inform merchants about the benefits of honoring mail preference requests from Catalog Choice, we are holding a series of “webinars”.

Catalog Choice invites catalog mailers to participate in an educational teleconference to learn more about this free service and the business benefits it offers the industry.  Launched in October 2007, Catalog Choice is a popular online service that gives consumers a convenient way to reduce unwanted catalogs received in the mail.  The service offers merchants a way to honor consumer choices and reduce expenses associated with unwanted mailings.  The session will be offered Wednesday, May 7th and Wednesday, May 14th.  Each session will be held from 1 - 2 PM (EST). Executive director Chuck Teller, project manager April Smith, and industry consultant Larry Shaw will review all aspects of the service and answer your questions.  Join in to learn how to benefit from the service, tips on implementation, and hear what’s coming next.

To register, please email April at april.smith@catalogchoice.org with the date you wish to participate, the names of those attending from your company, and phone and email addresses of each participant.  Catalog Choice will follow up with call confirmation and details.