The National Association of Advertising Distributors (NAAD) originated in 1947 with a group of advertising distributors from different parts of the United States. Association membership was by invitation only at that time. Many of the original members were members of the Advertising Distributors of America (ADA). In its earliest days association members were involved in the distribution of advertising material door-to-door and on street corners. Products delivered by the group in the early days included soaps, detergents, cigarettes, paper products, food samples, magazines, telephone books, and advertising circulars for prominent national customers such as Scotts Paper Products and Proctor & Gamble as well as cigarette companies and telephone operating companies.
Over time many of the association member companies migrated into the mailing business and new mailers were invited to join the association. In 1979 the association adapted the current name (National Association of Advertising Distributors) and the focus of the organization shifted to include provision of marketing and list services to its members. Individually held mailing list territories were consolidated into a shared national database. NAAD began working closely with the USPS to develop and maintain our National Resident Database list product.
Today NAAD is comprised of direct mail companies who serve various facets of the direct mail industry. NAAD continues to own and compile the National Resident Database (NRD). The NRD is the most complete and accurate mailing list of deliverable United States households available. Our members update and manage their local resident information – there is no substitute for this familiarity with the market. And, since we also mail what we sell, you can be assured of our data integrity.
The National Association of Advertising Distributors (NAAD) has been an active participant in the Postmaster General’s Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) since its inception providing NAAD members with deeper insight into postal policies and new requirements before many others in the industry become aware of them. Additionally, NAAD is part of a short list of associations (“The Sweet 16”) invited to meet personally with the Postmaster General on a quarterly basis to discuss issues that impact both the Post Office and the Direct Mail Industry. It is through these important connections that NAAD has developed relationships within the Postal Service that help us better understand and communicate with our membership regarding issues that will impact our customers, our businesses and our industry.
NAAD has also actively supported industry efforts such as Coalition for a 21st Century and Mail Moves America to represent mailers’ interests in fast-changing economically challenging times such as these. We provide relevant, useful, industry-specific information to our members on topics ranging from legislation being proposed in Congress and how we can help to the efforts of our industry in educating those who wish to put a stop to direct mail because they believe it is detrimental to our environment. The mailing industry creates over 8 million jobs and supports about 1.3 trillion in sales revenue making it a vital contributor to our nation’s economy. The majority of paper produced in our country today comes from managed crops grown specifically to support the paper industry. The industry makes up for what it uses by planning more than 600 million trees or about 1.7 million trees per day. According to a 2008 report by the EPA forest land has increased by 5.3 million acres in the last 30 years.
Our association represents millions of dollars in postage spend per year as well as significant spending in mailing lists, software and mailing equipment. Since we were founded in 1979, NAAD has fostered relationships with several vendors with services that can benefit its members and better position us to serve our customers.
Interesting in learning more about how membership in NAAD can help you?
Learn More About Membership in NAAD
About our list product:
Virtually any geographic area is available and is selectable by single or multifamily homes, apartments and businesses. Neighborhood demographic selections are appended to our list at a carrier route level enabling you to further enhance your selection to find the best prospects for your product or service. Add a level of personalization without sacrificing walk saturation postage discounts by using our exclusive ResPlus product that replaces traditional occupant-style addressing with head of household names where available. Selections with names vary by ZIP code but are often in the 65% to 75% range for most major metropolitan areas.
The NRD has more urban style addresses than any other provider. The NRD is updated with USPS data bimonthly and is a full saturation mailing list in carrier walk sequence that allows for the greatest postal discounts. The list is also passed against the Direct Marketing Association’s Do Not Mail list enabling you to easily suppress those addresses that have asked not to receive direct mail.