Major producers from the beer, wine and spirits sectors have launched a comprehensive initiative to strengthen self-regulatory schemes for alcohol beverage marketing. They have established a set of common, rigorous standards for their marketing communications throughout the European Union.
Under the Responsible Marketing Pact, AB InBev, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Carlsberg, Diageo, Heineken, Pernod Ricard and SAB Miller [...]

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Tim Biddiscombe (pictured) tells how to overcome some of the key challenges surrounding implementation of marketing automation solutions globally.
There are many challenges facing a company looking to undertake or improve their international marketing.
Here, we’ll explore a few key issues, including those encountered when planning the campaign, managing data, deciding on language preferences and communication channels [...]

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Post Danmark reports that its Mobilporto service – which enables customers to buy postage via their mobile phones – has sold 400,000 stamps in its first year.
Customers send a text with the word ‘porto’ (postage) to the number 1900 to receive a code which they can then write on the corner of an envelope, where [...]

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The Indian Direct Marketing Association has been repositioned as DMAi – and has formed an association with its Australian counterparts.
The liaison aims to allow companies and individuals involved in direct marketing in India to benefit from the resources and expertise of the Australian DMA, specifically in terms of information resourcing, education and conferencing and also [...]

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Consumers warn brands to tailor personal data into effective insight, or they will shop elsewhere.
The proliferation of marketing channels over the last five years has significantly impacted on the way consumers expect to be treated by brands, reports Experian Marketing Services.
As more and more people embrace the multi-channel environment in their own lives, sharing information [...]

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Robert King (pictured) says business in the hospitality sector that take a longer term view of the Games may benefit for years to come.
The London 2012 Olympics will be a prime opportunity for travel, hospitality and retail companies to engage with a variety of new customers from all over the world. 
London is a central and [...]

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Huge disparity found between the public demand for, and actual availability of, live chat to address customer service issues online
We may lead the world in embracing e-commerce, but Brits are really bad at providing an online customer service, a survey of 2,000 firms and consumers has found. We’re still relying on the telephone when [...]

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First published in DMI, May 2001.
As Postcomm has introduced new licensing regulations, the Postal Industry stands on the brink of change – Mark Woodcock (pictured) reports on the likely changes in International Postal competition.
There was a time when dealing with the post in the UK was a simple affair. 
There were few competitors, few options, limited [...]

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Death of the High Street? Highly exaggerated, reports Andy Wood (pictured): research reveals there’s a co-dependence of offline and online for the modern consumer.
The high street is still a vital stop in the customer journey – but it is rarely used as the sole channel for shopping.
On the contrary, modern consumers use shops as showrooms [...]

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Don’t deliver cross-border marketing communications to people who don’t want them – and make compliance with European data protection rules painless. That’s the message from global B2B marketing data and services provider Mardevdm2.
The company has just introduced its new European Suppression File  (ESF) to the market and is helping to promote it with a competition [...]

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