What is direct marketing?
Right, the ICO’s Direct Marketing Guidance. Let’s start at the beginning.
As you know, if you are undertaking direct marketing, you need to follow the rules.
So what is direct marketing? The legal definition is in the Data Protection Act 2018:
“the communication (by whatever means) of advertising or marketing material which is directed to particular individuals”
Let’s break this down.
Communication: this is straightforward, any email, text, phone call, direct mail, post on social media, or information on your website. This will also cover any comms that haven’t been invented yet!
Advertising/marketing: this has a very wide definition and covers any advertising, promotions and marketing materials. It covers the commercial marketing of your products and services, as you would expect, but it also includes the promotion of your aims, ideals, passions etc, so this will include fundraising or political messages, and any corporate initiatives.
This means charities and political parties are captured, but also any company sponsorship of a charity or a local community group. Sainsbury’s for example has a tie in with Red Nose Day, selling the merchandise and raising funds in their stores, so comms about this will be marketing.
Directed to individuals: this is where some marketing falls out of scope.
The message must to directed at 1 person or a group of people. So an email or a phone call to a particular person or a piece of direct mail addressed to any individual will be covered.
But, an unaddressed envelope containing marketing delivered to all houses on a road or a leaflet placed in every parcel sent by a retailer to their customers will normally be exempt.
However, just because there is no name and address on the envelope or the leaflet is not personalised doesn’t mean it’s not “directed at” an individual or group.
This is because direct marketing doesn’t just mean the message sent; everything you do for “direct marketing purposes” is included.
So using lead generation to find prospects, screening data, and profiling will be covered.
Therefore, if you profile your current customers to find potential new ones, you can’t just send unaddressed marketing to them and avoid the rules. The profiling was for “direct marketing purposes” so the message you send has to comply.
So it’s not just the message itself that will be direct marketing, but everything you do beforehand.