JANUARY 2012 CONTENTS
716 NEWS
4 Precision and Anglia Mailing merge Precision Marketing and Anglia Mailing merge to create the region’s biggest direct marketing services provider.
5 New tool identifies ‘invisibles’ A new verification solution helps marketers identify ‘invisible’ consumers with no credit history.
6 Spam SMS investigation progress The ICO’s investigation into the source of spam texts in the UK makes ‘significant progress’.
7 Cyance and 360 join forces Marketing specialists Cyance and 360 Business Marketing merge to create a new force in B2B marketing.
8 Letters
The latest selection of reader-submitted letters.
9 Upcoming events
A look ahead to some key events in 2012 for database marketers.
INSIGHT
10 Opinion CRM and the 7 signs of life CAROLYN BONDI
A surgical guide to breathing life into your CRM strategies in 2012.
12 Cover story Integrating email JAMES LAWSON Test, test and test again is the key to successfully integrating email into a multichannel marketing strategy.
16 Case study: Apex Hotels Edinburgh hotel chain creates a SCV and ramps up its marketing comms with a hotel-specific marketing solution.
18 Opinion Can we put a price on data? MIKE FISHER
A careful considertion of the ‘value exchange’ that underpins all direct marketing.
20 Software Rewiew Marketing Hub JAMES LAWSON
Under the hood of ClickSquared’s multichannel marketing hub.
28 FEATURES
22 Data cleansing ANTONY BEGLEY
A hands-on buyer’s guide for marketers looking to procure data cleansing services or software.
28 Addressing software JAMES LAWSON After a spate of consolidation in the sector, what lies ahead for addressing software – and where will the innovation come from next?.
31 Call It Like You See It IAIN LOVATT Fire the lowest 25% of your customer base and free up 40% of your time to focus on better clients and prospects.
Comment
Antony Begley, Managing Editor
Drastic times call for drastic measures, as they say – so what about the drastic idea put forth in this issue’s Call It As You See It article (p31) from the mercurial and ever interesting Iain Lovatt of Blue Sheep? Iain, as many of you will be aware, was the winner of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s Database Marketing Awards and is never short of something challenging to say, but he has outdone himself this time. ‘Fire the bottom 25% of your customer base and you’ll free up 40% of your time to focus on better clients and prospects’ is the gist of it. That’s right: send that 25% a letter saying you don’t want their business any longer. Of course it’s said in jest, surely, isn’t it? Turns out it isn’t. Having tweeted a precis of the article then stuck it on as a discussion for our
LinkedIn Group, I watched in something approaching astonishment over the next few hours as comment after comment poured in, all of them giving far more credence to Iain’s seemingly bampot idea than I had. If some of the comments on the thread are legitimate, then a version of this idea has already been tried out by at least one major UK business. That business didn’t quite go to the lengths of sending out dismissal letters, but the upshot was effectively the same – and the results were surprisingly in line with Iain’s predictions. Let’s face it, we all have low value clients that soak up inordinate amounts of valuable time and we would all benefit from having 40% more time.
www.dmarket.co.uk January 2012 3
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