of more than 40 list suppliers and middlemen, published for the first time within Marketing magazine, shows declining demand for cold lists.
"The list sector has to adapt to a world where volumes will be consistently lower," comments Rosemary Smith, managing director at list manager and broker RSA Direct.
Data volumes were being scaled back long before the credit crunch began but last year's banking crisis hastened the decline. The survey shows that clients appear to be more interested in transactional data.
Sellers of such data argue that consumers 'in play' for products and services are more responsive to unsolicited approaches.
Transactional data specialist Transactis tops this year's consumer data owner-supplier league. Its clients include Reader's Digest, which has a varied product range embracing magazines, DVDs and financial services.
We still need volume data, says Stephen Boyle, database manager at Reader's Digest. But we're moving away from purely cold data to using transactional data pools where you can build a profile of customers across the entire file and slice 30% off the top of the file for contacting.
More sophisticated models of email data are also emerging. TMNmedia, which operates as a digital list owner and manager does not sell the e-lists it manages on behalf of clients.
While it tops the survey's league of list managers, access to the lists it manages is strictly controlled.
Brands can get promoted to prospects through advertising sold on emails sent to those lists by the media owner.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
