Europe’s biggest marketing trade body has been formed off the back of a merger between two renowned organisations – the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM).
With connections to a combined workforce of 530,000 marketing pros and £14.2 billion in campaign spend, the two groups are moving forward under the same roof to create a much stronger force.
The DMA, a trade organisation for the marketing industry, is based in the UK but has members spanning across a number of European countries. Part of its duty is to provide advice to its members whilst promoting the benefits of direct marketing to non-investors.
IDM’s service is skewed more towards education, with 25 years’ experience in helping digital marketers achieve industry-related qualifications
An announcement from this morning confirmed that both parties will merge after one more year operating independently.
Two become one
While both of the member-only organisations have slightly different remits, their work for the wider industry follows similar lines. The combined entity has declared its ambition to help marketing pros expand their skillsets at the same as advocating best practice, innovation and excellence.
“The newly created group is committed to continuing the purpose for which the IDM was established, namely supporting, attracting and developing talented people into the one to one marketing industry,” read a statement from IDM co-chairs Melanie Howard and Caroline Worboys.
“We believe that the value of the IDM brand, the importance of reputable qualifications to the industry and our role in attracting high quality talent to the industry will be expanded in a shared future.”
The DMA is also known around the industry for its production of research. Earlier this year, the organisation highlighted ROI of £38 for every £1 spent on one of its key channels – email.