DATABASE SCREAMS!
The DMSI e-NEWSLETTER... Rants and raves from the database pros at DMSI.

In This Issue:

DMSI addresses the DMEF
Data Mining Fundamentals
MOM's kitchen - for users of Mail Order Manager
JHU Corner: Congrats to John Hopkins students.
NCDM highlights
Copy Power
How can DMSI help?

Dear Friends,

"Database Brain Drain" - this was the headline for a cover story in a recent edition of Direct Magazine, describing why numerous database executives have left the direct marketing industry. At DMSI, we believe that savvy marketers know they need to revive their database marketing capabilities, and that is where we can help. Read on and let us know what you find most helpful.

Bruce Gregoire,
President and founder,
Desktop Marketing Solutions, Inc (DMSI)

DMSI addresses the DMEF

Bruce Gregoire, President of DMSI, presented "The Role of Database Marketing" at the Direct Marketing Education Foundation (DMEF) Institute in January. This Institute, sponsored by the national Direct Marketing Assoc., brought together 20 leading college professors from the Northeast for 3 days to discuss current interactive marketing topics. Mr. Gregoire led a discussion on popular database marketing approaches in the industry. If your organization would like a guest speaker on the topic of Database Marketing or CRM, contact DMSI at (703) 941-8109.

Learn More: Info on DMEF at www.the-dma.org/dmef
Return to top5

Data Mining Fundamentals
Baseball example: "Do bat buyers also buy balls... or gloves?"

If the Little Leaguer in your family is a buyer of a baseball bat, what is the most likely item they would buy with it? Of course, a baseball. But the reverse may not be true - if they buy a baseball, they may be more likely to buy a glove. This scenario may be obvious to your child, but not so obvious to your marketing staff, unless they are using Data Mining.

Data Mining is all about correlations and patterns, revealed with statistical tools. The term itself is instructive - Data Mining (in the marketing sense) describes the process of "drilling down" into a database of customer data to retrieve valuable "gold nuggets" of information. The most familiar example is Amazon.com - when you log in, the Amazon database recognizes you, drills down into your buying history, and recommends a new title for you to purchase. This is a specialized version of Data Mining known as a "recommendation engine", where customers that fit your profile are grouped and statistically analyzed based on their buying patterns. It is obviously a very effective approach for cross-selling.

Direct Marketers can employ Data Mining techniques on a smaller scale than Amazon, and still achieve considerable success. For example, to retain customers, data Mining can predict "churn", when a customer is about to lapse. This is highly effective in the telecom industry where churn is a significant problem, but can also be used in membership associations. For example, if a member's attendance at association events drops off, this may correlate highly with his/her membership renewal lapsing.

Data Mining is not yet a mainstream analysis technique, so the talent needed to make it succeed is not readily available. You may need to hire consulting services if you are unable to find the right staff person to employ. But the good news is that data mining tools are becoming more powerful and less expensive. For instance, Crystal Reports is a widely available product that is used by many marketing analysts, and costs less than $500. Of course, it needs to be customized for this purpose. More specialized Data Mining products for marketers include MarketMiner (less than $15,000) and SAS (somewhat higher).

It has been estimated that in the next 3 years there will be more data generated worldwide than in all recorded history to-date! Direct marketers will need to employ wider use of Data Mining techniques to survive this landslide - and successfully analyze marketing campaigns.

Learn More: Download a full text version of this article at DesktopMarketingInc.com. Also see, MarketMiner and SAS.
Return to top5

MOM's Kitchen

Wedding Announcement: MOM meets Goldmine

There are generally considered to be two flavors of marketing database software:
1.   Mail-order based systems, like MOM, with lots of order transactions.
2.   Sales & Marketing based systems, like Goldmine, with lots of sales contacts. Wouldn't it be a perfect world if someone could marry the two flavors to get a perfect marriage? This marriage - linking Goldmine customer records with MOM orders - is now about to happen, thanks to DMSI. In Feb. 2003, in collaboration with Goldmine technical staff, DMSI has created the best of both worlds. DMSI can now provide an add-on package to your Goldmine software that will display, within your Goldmine customer view, all of the linked order transactions from MOM!

Learn More: To see a preview of how MOM orders can appear in Goldmine, visit RedStoneSoftbase Then contact us directly at (703) 941-8109 to find out how we can integrate this solution with your MOM database. Note to ACT users: we can upgrade you seamlessly to Goldmine to provide this capability - contact us today!
Return to top5

JHU Corner: Congrats to John Hopkins students.

This space is dedicated to Johns Hopkins Univ. SPSBE Marketing Information Systems students and graduates. Bruce Gregoire, President of DMSI, is the instructor for this course.

Congratulations to JHU Winter students.
Kudos to the JHU students who have recently completed the Marketing Information Systems course at JHU. All students completed this rigorous course while maintaining their "day jobs" at organizations such as The Baltimore Sun, Philip Morris, Sara Lee, and Thompson Publishing. For their final project, each student used a benchmarking analysis tool to assess their own organization's database marketing capabilities. The results were outstanding contributions to both their studies and their careers. Best wishes and congratulations!

Learn More: Check out the JHU Master of Science in Marketing program at JHU Marketing Program
Return to top5

NCDM highlights

National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) is a semi-annual conference for database marketers that brings together state-of-the-art thinking in the industry. The winter session of NCDM was held Dec. 9-11, 2002 in Orlando. Topics this year included much discussion of CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Here is a summary of some highlights:

• In-house projects fail at more than double the rate than vendors Source: Meta Group, IDC, Gartner Group, IBM
• Organization/people barriers, not technical are still obstacles to database project success.

• Search engines more widely used, as "problem solvers"
• B-B Case Study: Study of a customer base of PhD chemists found they use Google to find a source for specific formulas! Source: Rohm & Haas
• Consumer Case Study: Pay-per-click (Google, Overture) may be preferred over "Natural search listings". Pay-per-click can insure an ad position of 1 through 5, the "sweet spot". Source: E-bags.com
• Cross Selling appears as focus for Data Mining projects. Source: IBM
• More partnering of "clicks" with "bricks" organizations. Source: E-bags.com

• HTML is preferred 2 to 1 over text messages for newsletter subscribers - Source: L-Soft, Bethesda MD. Communicating to CEOs, CPOs, CIOs, CFOs
• Senior staff now routinely read their own Email! (formerly a secretary printed them out) Source: Answerthink Communicating to demographic groups: Source: VCU
• Over 65: this group rejects labels like "Seniors", "Golden Years", prefer "Older Population"
• Men: respond if you show product comparisons
• Women: respond to building communities
• Youth: respond if you make a game out of communication

Learn More: National Center for Database Marketing
Return to top5

Copy Power

Database marketing is only one-half of the art & science of Direct Marketing. DMSI is happy to feature a guest column from Albert Fried-Cassorla, a Direct Marketing copywriting expert from Philadelphia, PA.

Copy Power! Four 97-pound weaklings transformed before your eyes
by Albert Fried-Cassorla

We all need to beat MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over). That's the essential challenge we face in an overheated, over-informed advertising and D.M. world.

To do it, the talented copywriter must know how to use all of the tricks in his magic bag. Because… and pardon me if I shout… IF YOU LOSE ATTENTION, YOU LOSE THE SALE.

Now let's look at a few 97-pound weakling ads and see if we can strengthen them by applying time-honored principles of effective copywriting. Occasionally, I give design revisions, too. This selection happens to all be of print ads.

1. Use the active voice
   This ad for an upscale wristwatch has no verb:
   Tacori
   A symbol of unending love
   

   The ad had no human element--- just a product shot. Simply using a verb adds a degree of strength. Also, nobody likes a symbol that calls itself by that name. Instead, let's emphasize the giver's generosity, as in:

   Give a Tacori
   and give unending love.
   

   This new headline flatters the reader's sense of himself as being generous. To boost imagery, we might add a pair of hands, one the giver, the other the recipient. Of course, from a D.M. standpoint, it would help to give a brief message that provides both a web site address and reason to visit it. That could be: "Find the nearest purveyor of Tacori timepieces at www.tacori.com. But such calls to action tend to be regarded as messy distractions by image-oriented agencies.

2. Shout pleasure! (And run from boredom!)
   Boredom is the cardinal sin of advertising. Avoid it! In this trade, nothing is worse than going unnoticed.
   

   As an example, let's look at an ad for Le Nature's Ice Water with twist of Lime. The imagery used is an icy drink and a lime.
   
   Current headline:
   
   "Water please. With lime!"

   The writer uses features, not benefits, which is always a mistake. There's no inherent benefit to the end-user in water or lime. So here's a re-do:

   "Ahhh! Refreshing lime!"
   

   Lime pleasures from Le Nature
   To boost the imagery, I'd consider "drawing" a smile on the glass's condensation. Or we could show happy people drinking, whether in the foreground or background.
   

   Here is an entirely different approach:

   Life's hot.
   Lime's cool.
   Indulge in Lime pleasures from Le Nature

   For graphics, we could show a beating sun bearing down on a parched wayfarer on one side of the ad, and someone rising out of a pool on the other side. The swimmer reaches for a glass of the refreshing beverage.

   Notice that my re-do mentions the brand or product name in the headline. It's often wise to do this. After all, the reader may never get very far into your ad. At the very least, tell him what it is you're advertising in the first sentence. Response addition: a web site for coupons wouldn't hurt.

   Work and thinking must be done, if we wish to persuade.

Albert Fried-Cassorla is a direct response copywriter and president of Fried-Cassorla Communications, Inc. He may be reached at albert@fried-cas.com or 215-635-5189.

Learn more: For a complete version of this article see Copy Power, Issue #17 of DM Tips.
Return to top5

How Desktop Marketing Solutions, Inc. can help you!

DMSI is a full-service resource for database marketing software, programming, installation and applications. Whether you're considering a new software system or just need help assessing your current one, DMSI can help. The staff at DMSI offer the rare combination of database know-how and direct marketing expertise. Our niche is small to mid-size companies who need the power of advanced database techniques to grow their business. We provide software product installation and customization for "best of breed" marketing database packages.
Return to top5

Web site: DesktopMarketingInc.com
E-mail: info@DesktopMarketingInc.com
Telephone: (703) 941-8109
Falls Church, VA