Experian

It’s no secret that if you use data correctly, you can add tremendous value to your company. The real key is the techniques to find and use this data to your advantage. That was the message offered during a session last week at the DMA’s List Day conference in New York. A panel — consisting of Erik Findeisen, co-founder/CEO of FC Data, a direct marketing consultancy; Janette Barret, director of marketing services and analytics for International Masters Publishers; and Hao Chen, manager of decision science at Experian Marketing Solutions — discussed ways mailers can drive up their return on investment through the use

With the postal rate increase in effect and the marketplace demonstrating fierce competition, catalogers are seeking more efficient ways to handle the database information they accumulate. Certainly, there’s no shortage of companies that offer to streamline the process, but how do mailers know which of them is best for their needs? Here (in alphabetical order) is what the nation’s eight cooperative database firms are doing this year to set themselves apart. Abacus Alliance Acquired by marketing technology firm Epsilon earlier this year, Abacus recently launched its next generation solution, Abacus ONE, based on the company’s current proven modeling system. “We have taken what was

Assuming you have the right merchandise, 70 percent or more of a successful mailing campaign is dependent on the lists you use. Proper list selection means the difference between profits or losses on the income statement. This includes the proper use of your housefile and the outside rented lists you use. The specific lists you mail and the quantities of every list included in your plan are important considerations. I will talk about the different types of lists available and what you can do to improve your results. All mailing lists can be classified into three different types: 1. Direct response lists.

Catalogers’ Updates Acquisitions • ARAMARK, parent company of safety equipment and apparel catalog Galls, was acquired in August by an investor group led by ARAMARK CEO Joseph Neubauer. The deal, valued at $8.3 billion, is expected to close in late 2006 or early 2007. • Multititle cataloger Swiss Colony in August acquired Ashro Lifestyles, an apparel and accessories catalog catering to African American women. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. • Multititle cataloger Spiegel Brands acquired in September Carabella Corp., parent company of swimsuit and evening wear catalogs Carabella and A.B. Lambdin. The acquisition adds the two brands to the growing number of catalog titles owned by

In the late fall of 2005, AmeriMark Direct implemented an interactive voice response (IVR) system to reduce the number of routine service inquiries that reached its customer service reps (CSRs). With just 37 percent of its incoming orders coming in via telephone, AmeriMark’s CSRs weren’t having any difficulty meeting customers’ needs. However, about two years ago, former Experian Chairman Tom Newkirk, an acquaintance of AmeriMark President Gary Giesler, recommended that AmeriMark check out Verascape’s IVR solution as a way to enhance the customer experience. After spending a year considering how the service could help AmeriMark, Giesler and his team decided to test the product.

With the holiday season around the corner, and a double-digit postal increase on the horizon, consider where you can gain incremental value out of your housefile. Mike Yapuncich, vice president, solution support for data services provider Experian, offers a few tips on how to do just that: 1. Mail to the correct address. “The most important thing that catalogers should be doing to get incremental value out of their housefiles is [to use] NCOALink,” Yapuncich says. This process updates your housefile based on new mover information registered with the USPS. Yapuncich notes that while some catalogers try to save money by using NCOALink quarterly, the

Sears Holdings: Alan Lacy has resigned as Sears’ CEO and vice chairman of the board of directors for both Sears Holdings and Sears Canada. Former AutoNation and iVillage.com CFO Craig Monaghan has joined Sears as CFO. Williams-Sonoma: Howard Lester, this multichannel home furnishings merchant’s chairman since 1986, has been named CEO, a post he previously held from 1979 to 2001. He replaces Ed Mueller, who resigned in late July after less than three years at the helm. Mueller will remain with the company as director. Laura Alber has been promoted to president of Williams-Sonoma from her previous role as president of Pottery Barn Brands.

By Matt Griffin Now an eight-player field, consumer co-ops widen their offerings. What works best foryour catalog? With five established cooperative databases in the market, and three others trying to make headway in the past year, you might wonder what exactly separates each of these from one another. Whatever sets each co-op apart, the important thing to consider is that constant testing will prove whether the models offered by each company actually work. "Certainly you have to be willing to test the different databases, and you have to be willing to test different models," says Bob Webb, senior vice president of marketing for

Certainly all mailers want to improve their new customer acquisition performance. And in a session during the DM Days New York conference last week, Caryn Gray, Experian’s senior business & strategy consultant, outlined 10 key factors for mailers to consider when working with consumer prospect databases: Specifically, a prospect database is a client-specific database comprising multi-sourced, agreed-use, non-proprietary consumer records, such as vertical response lists, that marketers use for planning, executing and tracking or measuring new customer acquisition efforts. In setting the stage for her presentation, Gray noted that the key drivers for improved prospect databases include list fatigue, a lack of new names on the

By Terrell Sellix A matchback is the process of matching order records back to mailing-tape records to determine the actual source of those orders. Matchbacks have been used for years on a limited basis to try to pinpoint the source of unknown orders: typically 5 percent to 20 percent of orders. With the advent of the Web and the increase in multichannel marketing, understanding where your orders and customers are coming from has become harder to learn — and yet more critical to know — than ever. The shift has brought matchbacks into the limelight of customer order-tracking and results analysis. This Special