E-Marketing: By combining tried and true database techniques with the power of the Internet, magazine publishers are taking subscription and circulation campaigns to new heights

Circulation Management, Nov, 1999

Finally, Visitor Insight is capable of pure data overlay functions. That is, customers can take all of the information that they are generating from their e-commerce activities over the Web and combine it with their customer database. "At some point, the Web database will be the database, and there won't be a customer database anywhere else," says Laben, adding that he expects company Intranets to become a major gateway for database access.

All of this makes for some intriguing possibilities, Laben notes further. "Imagine this, a publisher will know who has been to their site and, even if they didn't buy anything, could generate some sort of customized e-mail based on their demographic data, acknowledging that fact and making a better pitch."

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

ACXIOM(R)

Acxiom

HEADQUARTERS: Conway, Arkansas

COMPANY LEADER: Charles Morgan

NO. OF EMPLOYEES: 4,000

INTERNET: www.Acxiom.com

PUBLISHER'S CONTACT: Cathy Lee; Business Unit Leader; Publishing; 501-342-1317

THE POWER OF Web-enabled applications has created a necessity for companies to maintain a competitive edge via the Internet, and integrating the data collection from these applications has become a challenge that Acxiom is meeting for its customers today. In response to the demands of business to build successful one-to-one consumer relationships and focus on shorter marketing cycles, Acxiom's large repository of consumer and business data products are now accessible via the Internet. For instance, the Acxiom Data Network (ADN) offers secured network access to selected products. While the traditional methods of obtaining such data (typically via magnetic tape) are still available, companies can now submit requests and receive the information in an online, real-time environment.

Marketing information has traditionally been used by a limited number of highly trained personnel. However, tools are now available to allow large numbers of users in an enterprise to access information and launch effective campaigns. Acxiom forms partnerships and alliances with tools offered by other companies such as Bigfoot and E.piphany and others which are integrated into our [Solvitur.sup.TM] solution. We help companies create a distributed approach to customer profiling and marketing campaign design and execution. Once a campaign is designed, it can trigger direct mail, personalized e-mail, customized Web pages, and other campaign delivery tools. After the campaigns are executed, Acxiom's distributed database marketing solutions analyze the results to refine and tune the campaigns. These products help execute electronic commerce marketing campaigns through e-mail and e-commerce systems. They also enable better personalization of customer interactions on the Web and better product customization.

Additionally, Acxiom also offers, through its Bigfoot affiliate, E-Mail Campaign Manager (ECM). "ECM users can capture and track vital e-mail data--who opens it, how far do they go in the links, and that sort of very detailed information," says Cathy Lee, Acxiom's business unit leader for the publishing industry. Lee adds that, There is a very quick response in terms of the information that is provided back to the marketer to tell them how that campaign is going.