A market-leading fulfilment business, St. Ives is comprised of a group of companies that together provide the UK’s most diverse range of marketing, print and display services. It employs over 3000 staff and has an annual turnover in excess of £400 million.

Occam’s data services are expected to be widely adopted by St Ives’ customers, specifically at St Ives Direct, where in the commercial print market customers are already targeting direct mail production using data analysis and data management services. These services, allied to personalised print production, specialist design consultancy and e-mail and SMS campaign delivery will drive increased campaign response rates.

The acquisition is expected to be of significant benefit to Occam and St. Ives; increasing the delivery capability and product and service offering of both businesses.

Patrick Martell, CEO of St Ives, comments: “Occam is an excellent fit with our existing businesses; by combining data services with St Ives print, digital print, direct mail, email and SMS services we will offer a compelling proposition to our customers. Managing customer’s data more effectively, providing insight and combining this with media production to maximise return for our customers is now a reality. I am delighted and excited to welcome Occam to the St Ives Group.”

James Bagan, Managing Director of Occam, comments: “We are extremely pleased to be working with St Ives. Our business specialises in providing the very best data-centred direct marketing and data management solutions, backed by high-level consultancy, tactical planning and analysis. We have proven success in implementing solutions across a broad range of markets and we anticipate that St Ives’ capabilities will allow us to offer a unique service to marketers.”

About Occam…

Occam is a market-leading provider of marketing management software and direct marketing solutions for some of the UK’s largest organisations. Committed to developing the industry’s most sophisticated innovations in the integration of multiple systems and channels, Occam delivers marketing solutions distinguished by speed of deployment and a pragmatic approach to solving identified business needs.

Occam is responsible for some of the industry’s leading products, including Zebra, its innovative prospect and customer management software and Reciprocate, the unique cooperative solution for the charity sector and largest single source of charity data in the UK.

Since its establishment in 1993, Occam has experienced significant growth and now employs almost 100 staff with an annual turnover in excess of £9 million. Its clients include Eurostar, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Ministry of Defence, Kia Motors UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation, amongst many others.

Launched in 2006, PKR has over 3.5 million registered players in 239 countries and is the 14^th largest real money poker site in the world.  Already a market leader in CRM, implementation of the Unica solution will enable PKR to benefit from greater customer insight and campaign automation.

Occam will be responsible for building a two-tier customer database, one for insight and analysis and one for campaigns; both will have the capability to be updated with PKR data on a real-time basis.  Occam will also provide ongoing technical support to manage these systems effectively.  In addition, the Occam data analysis team will be working closely with PKR to provide customer insight and profiling.

Dmitriy Shlyuger, CRM Manager, PKR comments: “PKR’s objective is to take our CRM programme to the next level.  Using Unica to target and deliver our marketing campaigns will help us to keep up with our fast-growing customer base and cultivate their loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.  We will also work closely with the Occam data analysis team to help us gain valuable customer insight and turn it into actionable campaign triggers.”

Scott Logie, Strategy Director at Occam adds: “A sophisticated CRM system is a must for any online business with ambitious growth plans.  We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with PKR on this project and help them to take their CRM programme to the next level.”

Occam was among the eight leading market service providers that Forrester invited to participate in its UK Database Marketing Service Providers, Q2 2009 Wave report. Forrester thoroughly evaluated these vendors against 77 criteria, which were grouped into three main areas: current offering, strategy and market presence.

According to Forrester’s report:

• Occam is a market leader — ‘due in large part to a combination of advanced analytics, strategy services, and strong account management.’
• ‘Occam has a strong analytical and integrated offering’
• ‘Occam focuses its database services offerings on mid-tier companies (FTSE 350) and subsidiaries or departments within larger companies, delivering packaged solutions that are repeatable, industry-specific, and cost-competitive.’
• ‘Clients describe Occam as highly responsive and client-focused’

Occam was awarded the accreditation following an independent external audit conducted by British Standards Institute (BSI).The eight month process involved a comprehensive and stringent review of all the company’s internal processes and management controls. In becoming fully certified, Occam has become one of a select group of companies in the UK to achieve the accreditation across the whole organisation.

To maintain the certificate, Occam’s information security management system will be reviewed, monitored and audited on a regular basis. As part of the company’s continuous improvement programme, further investment is planned to upgrade the company’s physical security.

Scott Logie, Strategy Director at Occam said: “We recognise and understand that the security of our clients’ data is of paramount importance. With this independent accreditation our clients can be confident that we have the necessary measures and internal procedures in place to protect their data and minimise any potential security risks. In gaining the ISO 27001 across our whole organisation, we’ve set the benchmark in the marketing services industry when it comes to data security. We see this as the start of the journey and we’ll be working hard to improve our performance yet further.”

The MS Society has announced that it will join Occam’s Reciprocate program, the industry leading reciprocal data solution for the charity sector. The Society, which is the UK’s largest charity for people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), joins the program to enhance its ongoing acquisition campaign strategy and maximise the results of its direct mail campaigns.

Reciprocate will allow the MS Society to identify the most complementary charities to undertake reciprocal mailings with and will allow access to new, high potential, warm prospects. The significant cost benefits of using Reciprocate names in comparison to cold lists, and the higher response rates and donation levels that result from mailing known donors, will enable the MS Society to plan its budgets more efficiently and maximise the return on its marketing investment.

Specifically designed for the needs of the charity marketplace, Reciprocate is the largest single source of charity data in the UK with over 5 million swappable records. Numerous other organisations have joined the program this year, including the Soil Association, National Autistic Society, Smile Train, FourPaws, Animals Asia and Medical Mission International.

The Society is committed to bringing high standards of quality health and social care within reach of everyone affected by MS. The Society funds research, runs respite care centres, provides grants, education and training on MS. It produces numerous publications on the subject and runs a free phone specialist helpline.

Gillian Brown, Head of Marketing, MS Society said: “Our income is based almost entirely on voluntary donations. Therefore we are always looking for innovative ways to increase our supporter base. In the past we’ve relied heavily on standard cold list recruitment to generate support, however by working with Occam Direct Marketing Solutions and Reciprocate we hope to enhance our ongoing acquisition campaign strategy and increase both response rates and donation levels.”

Scott Logie, Strategy Director at Occam adds: “Reciprocate will give the MS Society access to unrivalled donor marketing expertise. With a customer database of over 90 charities, we’ll use our expert knowledge of our members’ data to maximise the return from their mailings. The Society carries out vital work on behalf of people with MS, and we’re positive that we can help the charity build upon its work of the last 56 years.”

2009 sees a fresh new look and with ever more charities joining, Reciprocate continues to grow within the Not for Profit sector, and in this current financial climate an increasing number of charities are using warm data.

This year the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Soil Association, National Autistic Society, Smile Train, FourPaws, Animals Asia and Medical Mission International all joined the Reciprocate program. We also saw the return of Christian Blind Mission and Habitat for Humanity, all of which increased the volumes of names available and a cross section of sectors within Charities.

So with 2010 campaigns already underway, please ensure the Reciprocate Team has received your mailing planners to start work on your next campaigns. Did you know there are a variety of reports available for you to help build your campaigns and see how your database works within the Reciprocate system? These include Reconciliation, Profile, Order Listing, Availability and Overlap with other charities.

Ask your Reciprocate contact for more information or contact us on 01761 233833.

Without doubt, the economic shift we find ourselves in will change the way we market. There will be a shift in focus from volume of response to marketing ROI. So instead of asking “How many people responded to this campaign?”, we will ask “How much did it cost to recruit this customer?” – which arguably, is an approach that marketers should adhere to at all times. Alternatively, other organisations will take the view that the best way is just to keep on talking to people. Any people. About anything. And consequently, a scattergun approach is adopted, as large organisations in particular effectively try to market their way through any crisis by chucking out more communications.

Both of these approaches have their supporters and detractors, and indeed their own pros and cons. But of course, this behind-the-scenes navel-gazing is irrelevant to your average consumer. They don’t care about the rationale behind each and every communication. What they care about is how targeted, relevant and useful that interaction is to them. And in the current economic climate, organisations can’t afford to neglect these key criteria. So how can you use your data to ensure that you keep your customers close through the hard times?

When we first start working with any client, the eventual aim is seamless, multichannel communications that talk to each customer or prospect as an individual in order to engender long term trust and loyalty. But of course there are a number of questions to be asked first, and these questions usually fall into two camps; data and resource. So, what data do you have? And what are your capabilities for using it?

Data Assets

• Where are they held?
• How extensive are they?
• How well-structured are they?
• How accessible are they?

Data Management Resource

• How is it stretched?
• What does it cover?

Once you have the answers to these basics, then you can start to look at structuring the business to deliver better customer communications. Ultimately the starting point is ensuring that data is placed as a top priority within your organisation. Actioning real change to the way you communicate with customers will be a tall order unless you structure your business in a way that places data at the forefront.

It is important to remember that the credit crunch will actually only affect around 20% of individuals. Sure, a large percentage of people will feel that they are affected but in real terms they will be as well off as they have ever been. And at times of change and uncertainty, the survivors are those who keep communication channels open and who are consistent in their approach. The key is to ensure that we make the bulk of our customers feel that they are being looked after and cared for at what is a ‘difficult time’ while also ensuring we are seen to tighten up on cost. Ultimately, any organisation will live and die depending on its day to day relationship its customers. Strategies such as rate chasing, and the promotion of headline products will provide short-term glory, but it is service and communication that will win through in the long-term. Service and communication are people-led and process driven and an organisation’s ability to maintain a high calibre of both will ensure its longevity and prosperity.

In times like these small changes can make big differences for organisations. Again it all comes down to relevance and communication so ensuring that we have the right information on customers and using it wisely becomes vital. That means ensuring you have the right data processes in-house to cut out poorresponders, cleaning data to ensure you get rid of any that proves to be of lower quality and using your insight to talk to people as individuals.

So, given the recent troubles for many companies and the increasingly sceptical consumer audience, is it too late for organisations to refocus and get it right?

Well, in a word ‘no’. But organisations should be prepared to use their data carefully to climb back from the brink. And it may be a long hard slog. The strategy should be to get under the skin of our data and stick with customers who have stuck by us. That means understanding the communication channels those consumers prefer and having the correct data processes in place to ensure that we can sync with those preferences if and when they change. Repaying loyalty is key and the way to do that is through close attention to your data.

The technology is evolving to allow us to get even closer to customers and prospects. Indeed, the next steps will be around management of preferences – so consumers will be given the choice as to what communication to receive, from which brand, through which channel. And of course, the output of this will be more integrated comms messages, delivered through the relevant media and at a time either set by the consumer or recognised by their behaviour.

The market will recover of course, it always does. But it is the brands that get close to their customer data now and use it in the right way that will be in the strongest position once it does.

The new partnership will support Occam in ensuring Zebra’s capabilities continue to expand, and ensuring it is positioned to deliver the best prospects, via the most appropriate channels to its clients. Occam will utilise ListLab’s market leading expertise in the areas of List Brokerage and List Management to ensure that their clients’ data solutions and acquisition needs receive the best possible service.

Meanwhile, ListLab, part of the MediaLab Group of companies, currently manages over 100 lists and insert programmes in the consumer market. Their managed portfolio covers all the main DM areas from charity and investment to mail order and publishing, comprising 100+ million records. Last year ListLab’s established List Brokerage dept continued to show impressive growth purchasing over 50 million postal, email and telephone records. Clients include the BBC, MoneyWeek, IPC, Readers Digest, Natures Range and Kaleidoscope.

Scott Logie, Strategy Director at Occam says:

“The evolution of Zebra means that we must constantly and rigorously assess the various functions it houses. It became clear that list broking and acquisition was of chief importance to our clients, so this deal signifies our commitment to ensuring Zebra remains best of breed and ensuring that we can still answer the challenges our clients face everyday. We look forward to a complete step change in the service we provide to clients.”

Marcus Orme, Managing Director at ListLab says:

“We are delighted to be partnering up with a like minded industry pioneer. We look forward to working alongside Occam and ensuring their clients continue to receive the high level of service they have come to expect. Occam’s clients are clearly operating in a multichannel marketing environment, as are their customers and prospects. This partnership ensures Occam’s list and insert management and broking function will continue to exceed their clients’ expectations.”