Association for Interactive Marketing's Council for Responsible E-mail Issues "E-mail Delivery Best Practices" for Marketers and List Owners

New York, October 8, 2003 -- The Association for Interactive Marketing's (AIM) Council for Responsible E-mail (CRE) today issued its "E-mail Delivery Best Practices," designed to empower marketers with practical recommendations that will help ensure the delivery of legitimate commercial e-mail.

AIM developed this new set of best practices in order to provide marketers with clear and conspicuous advice and recommendations on how the following topics impact the delivery of e-mail:

• Consent/permission collection and processes;
• Delivery operations and processes;
• Content;
• List hygiene and suppression;
• E-mail user education; and
• Recipient inquiries and dispute resolution.

"E-mail has become an effective channel for marketers because it has proven efficient at enhancing the dialogue and relationship between marketers and consumers," said Kevin Noonan, Executive Director of AIM. "Incorporating these best practices into one's marketing activities will help ensure that legitimate e-mail gets delivered. But perhaps what's most important is that following these practices will not only defend, but enhance that most treasured asset, the brand, by respecting and addressing the preferences of consumers."

"The AIM best practices unveiled today will help distinguish legitimate senders of commercial e-mail," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, AIM's parent trade association. "They effectively complement the anti-spam working strategy that The DMA promulgated earlier this year, and we invite marketers to consult them as they create ethical and effective e-mail marketing campaigns."

Many companies were consulted during the development of the document, including Bigfoot Interactive, SilverPop, DoubleClick, ePost Direct, Return Path, and CNET Networks.

The complete text of AIM's "E-mail Delivery Best Practices" is available for download at: http://www.imarketing.org/councils/CRE/.

About the Association for Interactive Marketing
The Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM) is a nonprofit trade organization devoted to helping marketers use interactive opportunities to reach their respective marketplaces. With an extensive history of serving the marketing and new media industries, AIM has worked closely with its corporate members since its founding in 1993 to promote and protect the future of interactive marketing.

AIM, a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association, serves diverse corporate interests, including responsible e-mail marketing and delivery issues, search engine marketing, performance-based marketing, wireless marketing, online and integrated promotions, and the rollout of interactive television advertising and programming. The membership consists of companies who have a vested interest in the utilization of interactive technologies for marketing across multiple channels. More information about AIM is available online at www.imarketing.org.

About The Direct Marketing Association
The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2002, including $126 billion in catalog sales and $34 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.

About Silverpop
Silverpop is an e-mail marketing solutions provider offering a full range of services that include e-mail marketing strategy, campaign management and execution and highly tailored analytics of campaign results. Our client solutions team has the expertise in best practices and e-mail campaign fulfillment to get the job done right, every time. Our solutions are available in either full or self-service, depending on client preferences. Silverpop's customer base includes Apple, The Bombay Company, Weather.com and AutoNation. For more information visit www.silverpop.com.