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MoonRiver Group

Customer management consultancy MoonRiver Group has acquired Bristol-based Direct Excellence, which specialises in customer service performance benchmarking. The move follows MoonRiver's acquisition of a majority share in database management company, thinkdata, in February.

Data suppliers

Transactis

Data pooling company Transactis, set up by former Abacus Direct Europe MD Chris Morris, has unveiled TransAction, a lifestyle and transactional database containing details of more than 250 million purchasing transactions.

The file was created from data pooled by 40 mail order companies, all of whom are Transactis members. The data is overlaid with lifestyle information from surveys contributed to by lifestyle providers, such as Consodata.

Database analysts

Dunnhumby

Dunnhumby has set up a new media services division to allow advertisers and their agencies to evaluate the success of their campaigns. Dunnhumby's existing databases and segmentation techniques will be applied to media planning and buying tools and channels. Paul Alexander (below left), previously CEO of M101, is heading the new division.

Clients

HBOS

HBOS Card Services, the credit card arm of Halifax Bank of Scotland, has hired finance and charity specialist Target Direct to work on its affinity card business. The agency will work on a range of projects including market research, product development and retention programmes across all media.

Virgin Holidays

Virgin Holidays has appointed specialist IT consultancy Detica to automate the holiday company's marketing processes, including campaign planning, execution, management and measurement of DM activity.

List consultancies

HLB

List and data consultancy HLB is launching a mail order sampling service. Manufacturers will be able to piggy-back goods despatched from mail order catalogues with a product sample included in the actual package.

Guides

La Poste

French postal services group La Poste has produced a guide to distance selling in France. Contact laure.seguy@laposte.fr.

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