2006 NCDM Database Excellence Award Campaigns Demonstrate Originality and Success

December 4, 2006 —The NCDM Database Excellence Awards, honoring organizations that have demonstrated ingenuity and creativity in leveraging their marketing databases, will be co-presented by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and DIRECT magazine on Tuesday, December 12 at a 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. luncheon ceremony during NCDM 2006 at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

During the luncheon awards presentation, talented database marketers who were able to demonstrate an appreciable difference in increased retention, cross-selling, up-selling, improved customer acquisition, or customer reactivation, will be showcased.

The NCDM Database Excellence Awards will be granted across four categories, with an additional Platinum Award being presented for Overall Excellence. The four Excellence Award categories include:

1. Analytics & Modeling Applications: Solutions and tools that dramatically improved modeling, statistical and analytical approaches by using industry’s best measurement techniques to predict and forestall churn and analyze recency, frequency, and monetary behaviors.

2. Technological Applications: Best practices in database management with a focus on designing, building, and maintaining databases.

3. Multichannel Marketing: Techniques that improved online and off-line direct marketing integration, measured sales generated from Web/E-Mail Marketing, and managed multiple channel integration.

4. Business-to-Business: Measurement of B-to-B lifetime value, data collection through distribution channels, and methods for cultivating customers.

All category winners were able to achieve measurable business results for their companies through improved customer acquisition, database marketing, customer relationship marketing, target marketing, or improved customer retention.

The 2005 Platinum Winners – Dell Inc. and Merkle Inc. – will present a case study of their winning content management project on Wednesday, December 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. (ET). Their presentation will highlight how Dell and Merkle were together able to improve Dell’s strategies for prospect acquisition through data management and advanced analytics. The educational session at NCDM, expected to draw considerable interest, will help others understand the significant impact a winning idea can have on a company’s strategy and business results.

For more information on the NCDM 2006 conference or to register to attend the NCDM Database Excellence Awards ceremony, please visit www.ncdmevents.com

About NCDM

Co-presented by DIRECT magazine and the Direct Marketing Association, the National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) Conference is dedicated exclusively to the database marketing industry. NCDM is held once a year and brings marketing and technology decision-makers together to find practical approaches to today’s direct marketing challenges using customer data and technology.

About DIRECT

DIRECT is the authoritative resource for direct marketing professionals. DIRECT delivers detailed coverage of every aspect of successful direct marketing, including: direct mail; customer relationship management; telemarketing; online marketing; and emerging technology. DIRECT puts breaking developments into meaningful, actionable terms marketers can use to build successful campaigns. DIRECT’s franchise of products includes: DIRECT magazine; the e-newsletters DIRECT Newsline, DIRECT Listline, and Chief Marketer; the NCDM conferences (co-owned with the DMA); www.directmag.com; and much more. DIRECT is a Prism Business Media product.

About DMA

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates industry standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the entire direct marketing process. DMA delivers "Five Pillars" of member services: Advocacy, Branding, Education and Competency Building, Networking, and Research and Market Intelligence. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, including a majority of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2005, companies spent an estimated $161 billion on direct marketing in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated an estimated $1.85 trillion in increased sales in 2005, or 7 percent of the $26 trillion in total sales in the US economy (which includes intermediate sales). All together, direct marketing accounted for 10.3 percent of total US GDP in 2005.

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