The People Principal - FAQs

Why is the DMA introducing the ‘People Principle’?

The principle recognises that diverse, inclusive teams and ongoing professional development are essential to maintaining best practices and delivering a truly customer-centric approach. By fostering skilled, diverse, and representative teams, it aims to create more authentic, relatable, and effective marketing that improves outcomes for customers.

How will we support you?

We will collaborate with partners that support different groups in the workplace to deliver quarterly webinars on specific topics. Some sessions will be accompanied by guidance documents and links to additional resources. Examples of previous guidance include our neurodiversity guides covering Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia. Additionally, we will provide policy templates or links to specialist organisations that provide these.

What if I don’t meet all the principles criteria?

This will not affect your DMA membership. We recognise that businesses are at different stages in developing their people strategy, and the ‘People Principle’ is designed to support organisations on that journey. It is not overseen or enforced by the Data and Marketing Commission (DMC).

How will we measure the People Principle?

We are developing a measurement framework for organisations to work with, but it’s important to note that this is not intended as an annual checklist activity. A great starting point is recording your team’s CPD hours and assessing how representative your marketing team is at all levels.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to email us on dmatalent@dma.org.uk.