Judith Donovan, chair of the SMP, a professional body that represents 150 mailing houses across the UK, said the board was raised from 10 to 14 members to “widen the type of representation”, but in particular to focus on smaller mailing houses.
The most pressing issue right now is scam mailers, the SMP said, for which it is working with Trading Standards on a code.
GDPR, meanwhile, has not turned out to be the nightmare many in the sector feared and the SMP said some of its members have picked up more recommissioning emails.
“People are more worried about the World Cup effect than GDPR, as many clients delay mailings if they think consumers' minds are focused elsewhere, like on Harry Kane.”
One of the new board members, Kerry Holden, has been running smaller operations such as Mailbird and Mediascene for around 20 years and is ideal for the SMP, Donovan said.
Holden is joined by Chris Hughes, director of operations with Adare SEC, Alistair Ezzy, commercial director of GI Solutions, and Rob Alonso, acting chief executive of Opus Trust Marketing.
Holden said: “I hope to provide insight into how the smaller businesses work and how we view the market – often different from that of larger organisations.
“It is important Royal Mail, as a large organisation, understands this as well as the SME market that we work closely with. I believe that there is opportunity out there.”
Ezzy added: “I see SMP as a collaborative way to get mail on the radar of clients and agencies and to show the value it brings to the marketing mix.”
Donovan said she believes the new additions will help to bolster the organisation’s knowledge and expertise across mail and marketing functions.
“Chris, Alistair, Kerry and Rob are brilliant additions who will offer invaluable insight into the industry across print, direct mail and digital,” she said.
