Doncaster marketing firm wins DMA quality stamp

A field marketing company that works with some of the biggest names on the high street has become the first UK agency to achieve new industry-wide standards for best practice.

IMS, whose head office is at Askern, beat more than 100 rivals nationwide in the race to secure Field Marketing Best Practice Accreditation in a much-vaunted new scheme run by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

For the first time, the accreditation serves as an approved stamp of quality for practitioners, and benefit clients by allowing them to easily identify and procure the best quality field marketing services the UK has to offer.

The strict accreditation process included a full-day on-site audit for IMS.

The DMA audit team looked at 57 different points over 19 areas, including client contracts, understanding the client brief and standards in the field.

IMS proved it was 100 per cent compliant with all of the required standards.

When the initiative was launched in September, IMS reiterated its pledge to be at the forefront of it, and became part of the first group of companies striving to meet the strict criteria that are required.

IMS Operations Director Steve Radford said: "We are delighted to be the very first to successfully achieve accreditation; feedback from clients has been very positive - of the clients surveyed in advance, all said that the scheme will make future purchasing processes and decisions easier.

"By selecting an accredited company, they can be sure that they are working with one of the very best field marketing providers".

The accreditation is far removed from IMS' early days, when it was launched by its founder directors from a back bedroom in Balby in 2000.

It has grown year-on-year ever since and now employs 25 staff in its new headquarters at Askern and draws upon a national field sales team totalling 2,000.

IMS carries out a range of point-of-purchase marketing activity, ranging from merchandising to price and stock auditing, to mystery shopping visits.

The company has a growing portfolio of clients on the high street, working in all sectors ranging from pubs to pizzas, soaps to stationery.

Coca-Cola, T-mobile, the Abbey building society and The Guardian newspaper - for whom it delivered an award-winning campaign last year - all feature on an impressive client list of household names.

It recently secured its first European contract.

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