Live from the DMI Co-Op: Business Mailers Alliance Debuts
Direct Media hopes that the dual appeal of transactional data and low pricing will drive clients to join its Business Mailers Alliance cooperative database.
The members-only co-op will have 2 million to 3 million names to start, but could go as high as 10 million, said Bob Foehl, former president of DMI, speaking yesterday at the firm’s annual Business-to-Business Co-op conference in White Plains, NY.
Of 23 business-to-business clients solicited, 19 have said they will join the co-op, Foehl said. The original cutoff for tapes was July 14, but only five tapes have come in to date, so the deadline has been extended into August, he added.
The objective is to offer multi-buyer names based on purchase history. Transactional variables will include product category, method of payment, source, amount spent, recency and frequency (including frequency by month).
The product will enable mailers to reactivate old customers. “You can send in your older files and match the companies that appear against current files,” said Foehl.
Foehl estimates that the database will make up no more than 10% to 20% of the average member’s list volume–not 100%. The file will be updated monthly.
The pricing structure will make “owners unhappy and mailers very happy,” said Foehl. The price of $65 per thousand names also covers modeling. However, this money will not go to the owner.
Members will be limited to the number of times they can use the file in a given month.
There will be a standard net-name of 85%. However, “in the early going, we will be fairly cavalier so that no-one gets hurt if they take 50,000 names and only end up with 20,000,” Foehl said.
Foehl added that “the long-term objective is to have people supply e-mail addresses so we can marry and append.” he added.
