The new association involves the merger of the ADMA and the Hong Kong Direct Marketing Association, as well as the affiliated partnership of the Direct Marketing Association of Singapore, HK Social, the China DMA and Web Wednesday.
The new organisation will be led by chairman David Ketchum, APAC president of Bite; vice-chairman Eugene Raitt, former chairman of the HKDMA; and vice-chairman Dominic Powers, SVP and managing director of international operations for Epsilon.
The new board of governors will include Lisa Watson, who leads the direct marketing association in Singapore, Turner VP Jeremy Carr and others. Kay Bayliss, formerly with ADMA, will be the executive director of the combined organisation. Jay Oatway, who heads HK Social, will also join as content and social head.
“ADMA has been around for 11 years and HKDMA for 20—we decided it was probably time for a refresh,” said Ketchum, Chairman of D+D and who was formerly chairman of the ADMA. “We held a series of long discussions with our stakeholders, such as publishers, tech-solutions providers and of course, members, and asked them what would be useful for their business. What they told us was they wanted us to be advocates for the industry with the government, to be educators and for networking.”
As a result of the ‘reboot’, the association will now have a broader membership profile that will include new industries and marketing managers. Currently the count stands at 85 member companies, 45 of which are corporate members and 40 of which are associate members.
“There is also a desire for more closed-door, small networking events where members have a chance to talk openly about the industry," Ketchum said. "So we will not be holding large conferences or forums in future.”
The organisation's new website isn't up yet. But when it is, you'll find it at www.ddma.asia
