One-Stop Shopping: Adventa offers an online marketplace for DMers

A long-discussed idea has finally come to pass. Backed by an initial investment of $4.8 million in venture capital, Adventa has introduced a Web-based exchange for direct marketing products and services – the Adventa Marketplace (www.adventa.com).

The first phase of the project, a list marketplace allowing brokers and mailers to search for mailing lists and rent them online, began in June. The second phase, an exchange for other DM services, will roll out later this year.

The list marketplace, the Adventa List Network, could streamline list ordering. Registered users can search for names across hundreds of categories, using a variety of selections. The network will present data cards – online – for all lists that match demographic and behavioral criteria specified by the user. (Other electronic systems allow users to search only by list title and category).

Adventa’s system takes all this a step further: Lists can be ordered on the Web site, using a shopping basket feature. Names can be added or removed from a list at any point during the process. The order is than e-mailed to the list owner.

When necessary, a mailing piece can be e-mailed to the owner for approval. “The process can take a few hours or a few days depending on how fast the list owner responds,” says Adventa co-founder and CEO Find Findsen.

In the second phase, Adventa will add “dashboards” to further speed the approval process. These are automated business rules that allow an automatic OK, rejection or call for further information about a mailing piece.

Users will be able to open several campaigns at the same time, and for as long as they want. Online reports for others involved in a particular campaign will be printable. And, Findsen says, response rates eventually will be charted.

The service is free to mailers, who are offered an additional incentive to participate in the network: 5,000 frequent flyer miles on Delta Air Lines or American Airlines for every order placed over $5,000. Mailers who need services are referred to participating list companies.

The cost? List brokers and managers are being offered a free trial period followed by a charge of $950 per month for those who join, with volume discounts for multiple users. Brokers who don’t join will pay $1,950 to use the service.

The commission structure is the typical 10% for list managers and 20% for brokers. The list owner can access reporting tools to track list rental activity.

To join, a mailer need only fill out a registration form. Once approved, the user receives a password to enter the site.

The project is being financed by seven major investors from around the globe.

This type of service has been on the drawing boards of any number of entrepreneurs since the Web’s inception, experts say.

“If it works, it could have a real impact,” says Peter Eustis, the Direct Marketing Association’s senior vice president of membership, who tested the first version of the product in his office prior to the launch. “More and more business is going to be done over the Internet, and for sure the list business is going to be one of them.”

“It’s a great idea,” adds Monica Smith, CEO of Marketsmith, a marketing company in West Milford, NJ. “There is such a void in the marketplace right now for companies to be able to find all the products and services they need.”

Linda Huntoon, a broker for The SpeciaLists, Weehawken, NJ, says the quality of data of existing list search services is not that great. “If these guys [at Adventa] provide high-quality list information, people will be flocking to their doorstep.”

Others are skeptical. Carolyn Woodruff, senior vice president of Uni-Mail List Corp., New York, says the sense of trust among mailers and list brokers is long-standing and cannot be replaced by the electronic ease of cyberspace.

The second phase of the Adventa Marketplace will showcase service bureaus, printers, lettershops, creative agencies, telemarketing services, list companies, and other businesses that sell products to the direct marketing industry.

Businesses can join for free by submitting a registration form that is screened by Dun & Bradstreet. This will be followed by a phone call to further verify the legitimacy of the business.

Once authorized, vendors can set up a storefront at the site to display their wares. Adventa will charge a fee based on transactions. “Any transaction that is currently done manually, or on the phone, or in a meeting, can be purchased or rented on the exchange,” Findsen says.

A rating service will eventually allow users to critique products and services. According to Findsen, “The highest quality providers will float to the top.”

The third phase of the project includes a “marketing mission control room” with a map of the world where marketers can view market share for particular countries or regions.

To further its research for mailers, Adventa is in the process of joining direct marketing associations in 40 countries.