Members of DMA agree to comply with strict guidelines,[5][6] which set ethical standards for the right way to use data responsibly in marketing.
In addition to supporting those industry standards and agreeing to follow the Member Principles,[8] companies that use data in marketing join DMA to network, grow their business, train their staff and participate in advocacy efforts.
[10] As of when John Gitlitz left the American Advertising Federation in 1981 to become president/CEO of the DMA, the latter's headquarters were in NYC, although their Washington DC office was important to them.
[11][12] The same article noted that "credit card offers are one of the biggest categories in your mailbox" and that one can opt out of these at no cost.
[15] Although the UK DMA[15] is based in the United Kingdom, its 1,000+ members, which include companies from other countries, are Headquarters is in London; there are three regional offices.
These services are designed to make consumers aware of the services that stop mail, email, telephone and fax marketing to them as individuals Direct Marketing Associations have attracted controversy, as people believe they aim to promote spam and to defend junk mail and unsolicited telemarketing, which many consumers find irritating and intrusive.
[19] The DMA received a complaint of marketing to a personal email address without compliance of data protection legislation and PECR.
On 26 Oct 2021 the DMA stated "it is not direct marketing and does not involve personal data it does not require a legal basis."
Despite the DMA being listed as a member of its own organisation, The Data and marketing commission (DMC) refused to investigate.