If MARK TWAIN were alive today he might be inclined to rework one of his more famous witticisms to accommodate the modern marketing industry. While death and taxes continue to be inevitable so too is junk mail. Unopened, unread and unwanted, most of the output from this industry is destined to lead a short and uneventful life, moving straight from the hall floor to the recycling bin.

While IT professionals spend hours devising ways to block spam that clogs up e-mail inboxes, when it comes to direct mail sent via the postal system, the emphasis has been on reform at source, particularly the enactment of the Data Protection Acts of 1998 and 2003.

“Complaints about unwanted mail have risen over the past few years and we would expect to see another increase when we publish our annual report in April,” said Nelius Lynch, the assistant commissioner in the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. “We are not against direct marketing but we do believe consumers should be aware of certain techniques such as competitions which nearly always contain a box seeking the right to disseminate their details to third parties.”

Practices such as these may not be illegal but they are considered disingenuous and do nothing for the image of an industry that often complains about being misunderstood.

“When someone asks me what I do, I find it hard to describe to them because of certain perceptions,” said Lorcan Lynch, who runs Experian Marketing Services (Ireland). “I don’t believe the term ‘junk mail’ is as relevant here as it is in America and the UK. We have been fortunate in ways to be behind when it comes to direct mail and this has allowed us to avoid a lot of mistakes made in mass mailing.”

Although there are no separate figures available for Ireland, anecdotal evidence points to the effectiveness of the medium. According to Euromonitor, the UK market for mail order and home shopping grew by 33% in 2003 to reach a value of nearly €17.55 billion. It considers direct mail the most effective form of marketing for this type of business.

The latest internet-based initiative from the Irish Direct Marketing Association (IDMA) in conjunction with An Post, will make it easier than ever to limit the number of flyers with your name and address finding their way to your letter box. The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) allows consumers to opt out of direct mailing lists by downloading a simple form and sending it off to the association, which in turn will make sure you are taken off mailing lists.

This will not stop unaddressed leaflets, non-personalised items to “the occupier”, free newspapers, inserts in bills and magazines or personalised mailings from abroad. It will affect just about every other direct mailing literature emanating in Ireland. The MPS facility has been available for some time but the new ease of online access should encourage more consumers to avail of it.

Alex Pigot, the IDMA chairman, suggests this is no bad thing for the industry. Running a direct mailing campaign is an expensive business. On average it costs €680 to target 1,000 households.

“As responsible professionals, IDMA members are keen to make sure that information about our products and services reaches the people who may respond to it. The last thing we want is to waste money offering goods and services by mail to people who simply aren’t interested,” he said.

Pigot dismisses suggestions that the use of paper is environmentally unfriendly and argues that direct mail is the most ecological form of advertising available.

“Direct marketing is not a blanket form of advertising — it talks to the people we hope are interested in it and then can be put out for recycling,” said Pigot. “The average household receives about 2kg (4Ålb) of marketing mail every year and it purchases about 40kg (90lb) of newspapers so it comprises a tiny fraction of total waste.”

In 2003, Ireland threw out almost 350m tons of paper, of which a little more than 75m, or 21.6%, was recycled. The Environmental Protection Agency does not break these figures down by classification of paper. In the UK, 55,000 tons of direct mail were produced in 2002, of which 13% was recovered for reuse. Industry executives in Ireland say that Britain is far more developed when it comes to direct marketing and say the pay-for-waste bin charges will not prevent the Irish market from annual growth of up to 50% over the next three years.