• by Jess Nelson , October 28, 2016

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has rebranded itself to reinforce the role of data in marketing, and will now be known as the Data & Marketing Association.

The announcement sets the stage for a planned year-long relaunch of the association, culminating in its centenary celebration at the DMA’s global conference in New Orleans in 2017. In addition to member feedback and the DMA’s Board of Directors, OgilvyOne Worldwide also collaborated on the rename and rebranding initiative.

Originally founded in 1917, the DMA is a marketing trade association aimed at advancing the data-driven marketing industry. It represents a community of members and companies across the marketing ecosystem, representing forty-two countries, and driven toward addressing challenges in data-driven marketing and establishing best practices through education.

At the conclusion of last week’s DMA &Then 2016 conference in Los Angeles, the newly named association also unveiled a new slate of leaders joining the board.

Michael McLaren, executive global group director at Merkle, has been elected as the DMA’s new chairman of the board after a global career spanning the United States, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Data privacy expert Jennifer Barrett, global privacy officer emeritus at Acxiom, will also join the board as its new vice chairman.

“I am excited to be taking on the role of Chairman of DMA at such a critical time for our industry,” states McLaren. “All our constituent audiences are wrestling with the forces of transformation that are sweeping through the marketing landscape. DMA is uniquely positioned to help them navigate this environment; by outlining new data standards and approaches, spotlighting exciting new innovations, sharing best practices around emerging technologies and data integration and creating the framework for a bright future of responsible, data driven marketing.”

Steve Wagner, group president of marketing services at Experian, is joining as the new board secretary, while Steve Froehlich, senior vice president of national direct marketing for ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was also elected as Board Treasurer.

The DMA Board was also expanded with the addition of three data and marketing industry executives: Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of Cision; Luci Rainey, senior vice president of consumer marketing at Comcast; and Cory Treffiletti, vice president of marketing and partner Solutions, Oracle Data Cloud have been elected to the DMA Board.

“This is a fascinating time for the advertising and marketing industry, as the ability to leverage the power and insights of data has become ubiquitous to companies large and small,” states Tom Benton, DMA’s CEO. “These steps reaffirm that DMA represents the entire marketing ecosystem of brand marketers, agencies, media companies, data companies and tech companies and is uniquely positioned to protect marketers’ ability to access, exchange and refine data to improve lives and to grow the U.S. economy.  DMA’s new Board and Officers represent the pinnacle of the marketing ecosystem and are a remarkable group of leaders to guide the industry and the new DMA.”