The “D” in DMA means something new now. On the eve of the professional group’s 100th anniversary, the Direct Marketing Association has rebranded to become the Data & Marketing Association.

“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,” said CEO Tom Benton, via the announcement. “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.”

The rebranded DMA has been in the works throughout 2016, according to Lindsay Hutter, senior vice president of communications and public relations. The timing of the announcement was intended to allow DMA to roll its rebrand out over the next year as opposed to a one-and-done announcement. “We wanted to capitalize on the excitement of turning 100 and keep that going throughout the year and culminate with our centennial event in October [2017].”

DMA also announced the election of four new officers, including new Chairman of the Board, Michael McLaren, executive global group director at Merkle. Jennifer Barrett Glasgow, global privacy officer emeritus at Acxiom will serve as vice chair. Steve Wagner, group president – marketing services at Experian and Steve Froehlich, senior vice president – national direct marketing at ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, will serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of Cision; Luci Rainey, senior vice president – consumer marketing at Comcast; and Cory Treffiletti, vice president of marketing and partner solutions at Oracle Data Cloud will take over three expiring board terms. No other changes to the board or staffing are being made, Hutter said.

The Nonprofit Federation and collection of events, too, are not expected to change other than coming under the scope of the new brand. No 2017 events are to be rescheduled. When asked what DMA’s 1,400 member organizations and event attendees can expect from the rebrand, Hutter cited heightened energy, a more contemporary feel and four pillars DMA is focused on:

• Advocate. DMA has previously launched Data Standards 2.0. Exploding data has created opportunities in the market place, but thoughtful guidance in how to use that data responsibly is needed and will fall under the umbrella of Data Standards 2.0, Hutter said;
• Innovate. DMA is working toward reducing barriers and friction between marketers and new technologies. Cross-device ID has been such an issue – one that DMA has learned is caused –in part – by differences in expectations and nomenclature from marketing agencies and suppliers. DMA developed a request for information template last month aimed at using common definitions and nomenclature between the two parties;
• Educate. DMA360 is intended to create an online reference center for members. The members-only platform allows members to share media ranging from videos to slides to white papers that is of interest to the. Fellow members can rate the usefulness of the content – enabling a ranking; and,
• Connect. This includes different events and initiatives hosted by DMA throughout the year both online and in-person.

Hutter said that, in addition to capitalizing on the association’s centennial, the rebrand is intended to recognize the explosion of data in the marketing field. The concept has been one DMA has prioritized since its inception — when the mailed catalog was considered cutting-edge. The proliferation of phone to fax to computer to smart device has created the progression to modern day.

“It’s quite appropriate that we formalize what we’ve always been about — the data in the marketing,” Hutter said.