Experian bought Hitwise, an internet marketing intelligence company, while rival Acxiom acquired Kefta, whose technology enables companies to deliver real-time personalised dynamic content through their websites.
Chris Savage, managing director for data integrity and digital services at Experian, noted that Hitwise was a solid acquisition as a stand-alone business but what made it most attractive to Experian were the potential synergies with the company's other operations, such as email business CheetahMail.
"One of the synergistic areas that we see is being able to go to out to our top 50 clients and say we've now got an additional service, understanding and knowledge base," said Savage, adding that companies were looking to improve their use of online as an acquisition tool or as an "up-sell, trade-up, customer management channel".
Hitwise collects data from ISPs across the globe on more than 25 million consumers who use the internet. It then analyses that data to advise clients on how to optimise their websites.
Matthew Simons, client services leader of Acxiom Digital Europe, said that with the acquisition of San Francisco-based Kefta, the company expands its ability to provide individually tailored online communications.
"We've been banging the drum about sending highly segmented emails for years," he said. "It's only just now that people are catching up. The Kefta acquisition just extends that capability."
Kefta enables firms to track the unique online behaviour of website visitors and respond with relevant content that jibes with other communications.
The acquisition comes a year after the launch of Acxiom Digital, which followed the purchase of Digital Impact in 2005.
Simons said traditional data players are well positioned to deal with the huge amounts of consumer information now available through the internet.
"Think about how much more data is available through online channels - how much more you know about a consumer when you do an email programme or if you've got a correctly set up website," he said.
Experian's Savage said data firms need to look beyond email: "If all organisations are doing is generating email lists, they're going to come unstuck. The winners will be those with a diverse, broad-based product set."
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
