New Association Vows to Fight Direct-Marketing Misdeeds

Intelligent Direct Marketing Inc.'s owner has formed the first non-profit association to promote honesty, integrity and ethics in direct marketing for the automotive industry.

The newly created National Assn. for Automotive Marketers intends to work with the industry to encourage and uphold noble marketing practices.

“I love the car business — I eat, breathe, sleep and dream about driving customers to dealerships,” says Todd Vowell, owner of IDM.

He adds: “I founded NAFAM because we need to squeeze out the companies that lie, cheat and steal.

“There is nothing worse than calling a dealer and hearing they don't want to do direct mail because the last guy didn't drop their mail or didn't drop what they contracted for. This business is a lot like the automotive business; there are a lot of great people but a few bad apples can spoil the barrel.”

Vowell says there are thousands of associations, but until now none were concerned with direct-marketing practices for the auto industry.

The new organization will be comprised of “friendly competitors.” The members will communicate with one another about what's going on in the industry and fight shady companies or individuals working out of the trunk of their cars, Vowell says.

“I'm proud to report we already have about 12 members,” he says.

Its first conference will be at the National Automobile Dealers Assn. Convention in Las Vegas this month. For more information, go to www.nafam.org or call 866-598-5477.