Federal Trade Commission Adopts SmartReply's Marketing Standard, Setting a New Precedent and Law in the Preference-Marketing Era; Ruling on Express Consent Will Change Voice Marketing Industry for Good, says SmartReply
Irvine, CA - August 21, 2008 - Come December 1st, 2008, U.S. consumers will start noticing a significant change in the pre-recorded voice marketing messages they receive. That's because yesterday, the FTC issued a dramatic dual-phase law that affects the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the way all pre-recorded voice marketing messages are delivered to consumers. The ruling, however, also represents a new era in respectful communications and preference marketing.
From December 2008 onwards, when the first phase of the ruling comes into effect, all pre-recorded voice marketing calls will require an automated opt-out feature, giving consumers a choice to opt-out of marketing calls, and future alerts and messages. Then, on September 1, 2009, all pre-recorded voice calls will move to full express consent, in line with the second-phase of the ruling which comes into effect then. This second phase requires additional consent measures, in the form of E-Sign, digital or written consent from the consumer to opt-in to receive voice marketing calls.
For almost all U.S. voice marketers, the new ruling spells compliance nightmares. For one company, however, SmartReply, the market leader in voice and mobile marketing solutions, the FTC's new ruling reinforces and validates its commitment to developing respectful communications and express consent from consumers.
While the voice marketing landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years, with several FTC rulings affecting the way voice marketers do business, SmartReply has willingly embraced these changes, and often led in creating industry standards and best practices for other voice and mobile marketers to follow. For more than six years, SmartReply has provided its clients, which include more than 50 of the 100 top retailers in the Unites States, with an automated solution that has allowed consumers to request their removal from future voice marketing campaigns through a feature called SmartDNC, whereby consumers simply "press 1 to opt-out now." This automated process for addressing a consumer's "do-not-call" request has been part of SmartReply's standard operating procedure from its inception in 2001, long before the FTC's recent ruling requiring a similar feature be utilized with all pre-recorded voice marketing campaigns. Since 2006, the company has maintained its position as a true industry leader and innovator, by being the first company - anywhere in the world - to provide express consent "opt-in" options to its clients for voice marketing calls on their behalf.
SmartReply's [multi-channel] express consent solutions were developed to integrate with consumer preference management, providing businesses with a turn-key solution to capture their consumer's marketing preferences - online, via phone or text message. SmartReply's solution is straightforward and progressive, allowing its client's customers to go online or call a toll-free number, and to opt-in with preferences about how and when to communicate with them. In this age of Twitter, TiVo and spam filters the customer is already used to controlling their marketing experience. With express consent, SmartReply's clients will know which marketing communications are welcomed by their customers.
"By this time next year," says SmartReply's president, Eric Holmen, "we will have gone through yet another metamorphosis, toward our core purpose of creating environments for respectful, personal and engaging communications, with an unwavering goal of leading the world into the preference marketing era. There will, of course, be some companies who object to the new law, but we see yesterday's ruling as an exciting step forward in the voice marketing industry and one that consumers and marketers can greatly benefit from alike. Express consent will change the industry, in a positive way, for good."
And to those marketers who don't tow the FTC line and keep filling the airwaves with unwanted calls? "The fines are hefty," states Holmen in reference to the Do Not Call fines of $11,000 per phone call violation. "But more than the financial penalty, there's the loss of customer trust, respect and loyalty. You can't put a price on that."
SmartReply will be holding a webcast on Thursday 28th August at 1pm EST/10am PST, to discuss the implications of express consent and how it will affect marketers, consumers and the preference marketing era. To sign-up for the free webcast, please
click here.
Click here to view the FTC's changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rules. To learn more about how express consent will change voice marketing, please contact Mike Romano at 949-340-0708 or email
mromano@smartreply.com.
About SmartReplySmartReply's voice and mobile messaging solutions have created breakthrough-marketing results for leading retailers throughout the United States and Canada. As the only voice and mobile messaging company dedicated to meeting the unique marketing challenges and objectives of retail executives, SmartReply's clients now have the proven ability to increase store traffic, lower marketing cost and strengthen brand affinity. Because of this, SmartReply is the provider of choice for more than 80 major regional and national retailers. Headquartered in Irvine, California, more information for partners and clients can be found at
www.SmartReply.com or by calling (800)-785-6769.