DM, Data and Beyond

Mark Roy

 
The Prince of Wales has calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world. Yep, he who has multi-million pound estates, dozens of staff and whose worldwide jaunts cost the UK public hundreds of thousands of pounds each year delivered a searing indictment on unfettered materialism at the annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture last week.

Kind of ironic, huh?

All (considerable) cynicism aside, however, it was good to see HRH mixing with leading industrialists and environmentalists at the Dimbleby talkfest. Charles seems increasingly eager to embrace topical issues in high-profile public fora, so if this gives him a sense of purpose and helps avert looming environmental crisis, then good on him. As the future monarch the Prince deserves to be remembered for more than just wanting to be Camilla’s ‘tampon’ (Charles’ words, not mine!).

Hence am thinking of adding ‘royalty’ to my lexicon of important, recession-busting ‘r’ words, which includes ‘recyclability’, ‘relevance’ ‘responsiveness’ and ‘retention’. Maybe we should ask Charles to endorse PAS 2020, the DMA’s Environmental Standard. PAS 2020 has inextricably linked key environmental performance indicators with marketing fundamentals like better targeting, data hygiene and recyclability in ways which can only but enhance the reputation of the DM industry as well as help us to reach the industry’s next recycling target.

Charles is right: without ‘coherent financial incentives and disincentives’ we could indeed only have 96 months to avert ‘irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse, and all that goes with it.’

The clock’s ticking, folks. Give PAS 2020 a shot today – if only for the sake of tomorrow.