DM p37 Opinion - Dawn Orr Feb09.qxp 28/01/2009 14:05 Page 37
Opinion
I
f transactional data is anything, it’s mercurial – But I digress. Everything was going along swim-
changeable, lively and occasionally maybe even a mingly until… the recession hit. In a word: Ouch.
little freakish. To paraphrase Frankie Goes To
Hollywood, it’s something that I and others have and
which, if I could be so bold, savvy marketers really
Transactional
can’t afford to be without in this all-too-Credit
Crunched period of market gloom.
Why? Well, given that the keys to successful multi-
data 2.0:
channel marketing are: (i) access to integrated contact
points (bricks-and-mortar as well as e-mail addresses);
welcome to the
and (ii) recency of purchasing behaviour, transaction-
al data offers marketers a treasure trove of data min-
ing and targeting potentials they can bolster the rele- pleasure dome
vancy of their product or service proposition with.
But at the risk of being branded a heretic, this was-
Dawn Orr offers a
n’t always the case. Transactional data was, for many
guided whirlwind tour
years, a bit like The Little Engine That Could – chug-
ging along narrow-gauge analysis tracks repeating, ‘I
through the brave new
think I can, I think I can, I think I can’. Transactional
world of transactional
data Version 1.0 was very linear (nay, siloed), in its
approach, offering selections only by brand, purchase
data, version 2.0.
method or pre-packaged list. Even with the advent of
swap compilations like Abacus, Reciprocate and
Open, prospecting and enhancement propensities
could still be cumbersome and inefficient unless the
client proposition mirrored the customer data profile.
With the rise of e-commerce, next came masses of
online, pseudo-transactional browsing / viewing /
page-hit data. But again, it was difficult to separate
the e-wheat from the e-chaff. In what, in many I realise that budgets as well as above- and below-
respects, was the pre-Red Eye and Wunderloop digital the-line spends are shrinking at unprecedented rates,
Stone Age, purchase activity and channel preference but for those of us in the data game, I see the months
were often lacking, as were the inclusion of buying and years ahead as being a real opportunity for us to
intent surveys. Relevance was still a murky issue and prove our collective mettle to cash flow-conscious
single-view, cross-channel contact storage and man- CEOs. Secure, screened, targeted and up-to-date trans-
agement still something of a siren song, luring us all actional data which can be tailored to suit the rigor-
forward yet beyond the reach of most. ous demands of multi-channel campaigns – presented
Transactional data’s quantum leap to Version 2.0 via a ‘one stop shop’ and which doesn’t incur for
came about due to a confluence of improved comput- either clients or their bureaux the costly and time-
ing power and a more lateral mindset amongst those consuming headache of juggling disparate data
seeking to leverage more from our files while lower- streams – this really is the way forward. Add the
ing our cost-base. Ours was a demanding and preco- tracking of purchasing behaviour across a wide range
cious view which drove our IT and programming of products and services as well as the application of
guys mad, but sometimes perseverance pays off. This an array of highly intuitive demographic and lifestyle
also involved chipping away at the old, mutually variables and, self interest aside, I do believe we’ll
exclusive current-versus-prospect data model in have found the recipe for empowering data through
favour of a pooling and analysis praxis which sub- the current recession and the difficult climate of con-
sumed these categories (and more) beneath the ban- sumer differentiation this has fostered.
ner of relevancy. Old, new, current, prospect – all that Because with the data sourcing and analytical
mattered was ensuring we were able to regularly col- mechanics all sorted, maybe we’ll be able to afford
lect large amounts of transactional data on an ongo- ourselves the luxury of once again being creative with
ing basis and in ways such that the resulting compos- our data. For when science and creativity combine
ite file could be continually refreshed. and mutually support one another, that’s when
It’s one of the inherent ironies of transactional things have a habit of becoming truly exciting.
n
data: in order to be better targeted, size does indeed
matter. Like John West, it’s often the data you reject Dawn Orr is Managing Director of Scientia
or don’t use that can make your data pool the best. Data (www.scientiadata.com)
www.dmarket.co.uk Database Marketing February 2009 37
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