WEFA to Study DM Beyond U.S. Shores

MEMBERS OF THE International Federation of Direct Marketing Associations are scheduled to begin WEFA Group research projects in Brazil, Canada, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. Singapore may also sign on, according to Ann Zeller, vice president for information and special projects for the U.S. DMA. Canadian Marketing Association president and CEO John Gustavson is looking forward to next year when Canada will have its DM revenue, economic conditions, employment and advertising expenditures analyzed by WEFA, which has provided such statistics to the U.S. DMA for the past three years. At the CMA's conference in Quebec City last May, he promised the organization's members to release the results at the next CMA conference. "Gustavson's been a key supporter," said Zeller. Indeed, Canada was the first country to show interest in having WEFA organize and analyze its DM data and to support a standard program to deliver the information in a consistent fashion. Zeller would like to have seen more interest among European members, but notes that France, Germany and the United Kingdom have already spent money on research projects analyzing data on advertising expenditures. In a related development, FEDMA and Deutsche Post plan to study cross-border mail flows to determine international volume in Europe, according to Alastair Tempest, director general of public affairs and self-regulation for FEDMA. The study will include U.S. mail that is printed in Germany and deposited with Deutsche Post. It is likely that other postal services will sign on as sponsors as well, Tempest said.

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