Following a BBC programme earlier this month which investigated direct mail and the issue of 'junk' mail, debate has sprung up about what constitutes junk mail.

Business Strata reported that, thanks to the major transformation that the direct marketing industry has undergone over recent years, junk mail has taken on new meaning. Whereas in the past, it could be used a broad, sweeping term to describe the direct mail communications of many brands, it can no longer be used as such.

Today, those who do not wish to receive such direct mail communications can ensure that they remove themselves from the mailing lists or ask to be removed. Savvy companies are also spending more time and money than ever before in order to ensure that their targeting is spot on, and that they are not wasting resources sending out communications to people to whom it is not relevant. A growing understanding of the need to maximise return on investment has ensure that firms are more focused on cutting out wastage than ever before.

The investigative show Panorama aimed to break down some of the perceptions surrounding what junk mail constitutes and highlighted several reasons why direct mail and junk mail can no longer be viewed as two separate entities any longer.

Before the broadcast aired, Marketing Week's news editor, Russell Parsons, speculated that the programme would try to show the negative side of such marketing communications.

“What it will show, I can speculate, is a series of extreme examples of poor unsuspecting souls … that are barely able to breathe under the sheer weight of unsolicited mail. It will also, I wager, throw some pretty numbers to illustrate the cost of recycling discarded mail,” he said.

Mr Parsons agreed that some of the untargeted 'blanket bombing' tactics utilised by firms in the past deserved the 'justifiable criticism,' but said that today's reality was very different.

Head of Retail for thomsonlocal.com, Paul Cross, reiterated the importance of targeting the campaign data, saying “the key to reaching prospects lies in the data you are using for your campaign. If your data is targeted and verified, your direct mail will have a much higher chance of reaching the right business prospects, your campaign wastage will be reduced and your return on investment will be improved,” he added.

Another important factor about targeting is the impact unwanted communication items can have on the environment. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the volume of unwanted items going to landfill has dropped by an impressive 80 per cent since 2003. Due to this fall, just 0.4 per cent of the country's unrecycled waste is mail.