Address is “A Human Right”, Says Former DMA VP

When people consider basic human needs, an address may not hold the same place as, say, food, clothing and shelter. But Charles Prescott, a former VP of international business development at the Direct Marketing Association, argues it is necessary for advancement of both individuals and countries.

“The consequences of existence or lack thereof of an address, especially in the developing world, are dire,” Prescott told Direct Newsline. “Address coordinates which can be associated with an individual are extraordinarily important for fostering economic, social and political development.”

Prescott, who in recent years has served as the Envelope Manufacturers Association’s representative to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), is doing more than just talking. He is in the process of forming a new organization geared toward promoting universal addressability. Priorities for the group include adopting a UPU resolution calling for all countries to have address systems and change of address processes available businesses world-wide, and making sure those change-of-address systems are reasonably priced.

This last priority is not a small one. Prescott cites the Dutch post as being especially egregious in its cost structure. “It costs about three cents per address to use the change of address system in the U.S.,” Prescott said. “And the discounts you get for using this pay for it. In the Netherlands, the Dutch COA costs about 81 cents a name. In Canada, Australia and the U.K.’s Royal Mail are all around three to eight cents.”

Highly addressable mail means greater deliverability, which Prescott feels will cut down on resource consumption. But developing countries will see benefits of having long-distance commerce enabled through better addressability.

How so? Prescott mentioned a department store in Rio de Janeiro which uses extraordinary means to provide credit to low-income customers.

“The slums don’t have addresses.,” he said. “What they do have are mobile phones. This department store provides credit to people within these slums by having one of these people go home with the customer. The customer and the store use their mobile phones to call back to the store to confirm the identity of the location.” By doing this, the store gains a fixed coordinate for the consumer.

“That address gives that person a verification of his existence for economic purposes to that store,” Prescott said.

The benefits of a fixed address go beyond commerce. In Africa, Prescott said, mobile phones are often the only way commerce is done. But mobile phone coordinates don’t allow for delivery of physical mail.

“In some countries in Africa, a child cannot register for public school unless child’s birth has been registered,” Prescott said. “But a mother and father could not register child’s birth without an address.

“For a postal system to operate efficiently, addresses have to be aligned according to logic. Postal system can create directories, which provide an order in which mail is sorted so it can reach the individual as quickly as possible.”

While the organization’s mission – and indeed, even its name – are still in formation, its advisory board isn’t. Those contributing their thoughts from U.S. companies include John Callan of Ursa Major Associates; Merry Law of WorldVu; Sheila Donovan of Global DM Solutions; Richard Miller of Market Response International; and Jerry Messer from Data Services Inc.

International advisors include Joerg Schneider of Deutsche Post Dialog Marketing and Dieter Weng of DDV, both of whom hail from Germany. UK representatives include Emma Gooderham of Allies Computing and FEDMA’s Alastair Tempest. The Netherlands is represented by Graham Rhind of GRC Database Information and Alexander Singewald of Singewald Consultants.

Among the names for itself the group is mulling, the International Address Data Association seems to be gaining traction, although a final decision has yet to be made.