Mental health charity Mind appoints a GDPR agency
Mind, the mental health charity, has appointed an agency to help its supporters understand the upcoming change to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) ahead of the May 2018 deadline.
Mind appoints GDPR agency
The agency, PSONA, has been tasked with delivering a campaign that will “educate and empower” people to opt-in to the brand’s communications which will launch next month.
“As the changes around GDPR draw nearer, we wanted an agency with strong credentials and experience to help take us through it,” said Annabel Davis, head of communications and marketing at Mind.
Preparations for what will be one of the most significant changes to how brands communicate with people in over two decades have been, according to research, slow.
A survey from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) found that a quarter of companies (24%) have yet to even start a GDPR plan while little over half believe their organisations will be ready for the 2018 deadline. Failure to do so can result in a fine of €20m or 4% of annual revenue, whichever is higher.
Charities, such as Mind, have been grappling with not only how they contact donors, but potential supporters as well, under the new directive. They have relied on pre-ticked boxes to give “implied consent” which will no longer suffice while a debate continues on whether a charity will only be able to contact someone who has actively “opted-in”.
This will be much of the focus of PSONA’s work for Mind. Davis said GDPR was “a great opportunity” to give supporters control over what it can talk to them about.
“Mind only exists because of the amazing support of people who donate, fundraise, speak out on mental health, and give up their time to volunteer for us or tell us how to improve,” she said.
The Drum recently spoke to banking group Lloyds on how it has overhauled its CRM strategy across its major brands in preparation for GDPR.