What could possibly be more fun than spending a Wednesday in late January learning about data mining, predictive modeling and the finer points of list economics?

Well, let’s be realistic – lots of things, actually. But that’s hardly the point. Database marketing is evolving rapidly, as it gains ever greater stature within the corporate marketing mix. Professionals in this field need to possess the most up-to-date knowledge available – which is precisely what the sixth annual Canadian Direct Marketing Association Database & List Conference, to be held Jan. 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, promises to deliver.

Bob Coles, senior vice-president of Cornerstone List Brokers, and chair of the CDMA Database & List Council’s executive committee, says the day-long event will include sessions dealing with some of the hottest issues currently facing the industry – among them Internet marketing and its implications in the area of consumer privacy; the rise of database marketing in retail; and the targeting of specific ethnic audiences.

In addition to the keynote addresses and the closing presentation, the conference will feature a series of concurrent sessions – grouped, as always, into four different ‘tracks’: marketing, economics, technology and fundamentals.

Here’s a rundown of the day’s highlights:

Keynotes

The day begins with a presentation entitled ‘One-To-One Marketing,’ by Jim Wheaton, vice-president of research with Customer Management Services. His talk will cover issues such as the ways and means of solving consumer marketing problems through use of database marketing fundamentals; the development of a source data strategy; and finding hidden opportunities in your data.

At lunch, Denison Hatch, president of Philadelphia-based Denny Hatch Associates, will share some of the ‘secrets’ of successful direct marketing.

Hatch, a freelance direct mail copywriter, designer and consultant, edits Target Marketing magazine, and is editor and publisher of a monthly newsletter on the direct mail business, called Who’s Mailing What! In this latter capacity, he reads as many as 4,000 direct mail packages, and maintains an archive of 150,000 direct mail samples. ‘This is the kind of stuff that’s never been gathered before,’ he told The Wall Street Journal in 1989. ‘Nobody’s ever been crazy enough.’

Marketing Track

David Young, president of Young Direct Marketing, will look at how the retail industry is beginning to take advantage of the opportunities presented by database marketing – particularly when it comes to building customer loyalty. Young, whose Unionville, Ont.-based company specializes in areas such as data mining, customer database analysis and predictive modeling, says retailers are still just taking their first steps in this direction.

‘Most retailers simply don’t have a natural channel for collecting customer information on a database,’ he explains.

Next up will come a session on e-mail and Internet marketing. Harvey Bergman, manager of interactive marketing with IBM Canada, will explain how his company is using the Internet to communicate to its customers.

‘We’re trying to figure out what our customers want, and how we can serve them better on the Net than we can either face-to-face or through a 1-800 number,’ Bergman says, ‘while still maintaining their privacy.’

As part of that same session, Connie Turner, group manager of corporate communications with Consumers Gas in Toronto, will discuss the cdma’s new guidelines for e-mail marketing (see story, page D16).

Turner, who chaired the committee responsible for revising the association’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, says safeguarding consumers’ privacy is essential to the success of Internet-based marketing efforts. ‘This is a huge issue, if the Internet is going to grow as a marketing tool.’

Finally, Bruce Cameron, senior vice-president of research firm Angus Reid Calgary, will outline the kind of data currently available on consumer attitudes and demographics, and explain how direct response marketers can apply this information.

Economics Track

Hugh Hilliard, sales manager for Toronto-based Herbert A. Watts, will devote his session to list economics, addressing the oft-asked question: When to use in-house systems, and when to outsource?

Hilliard, a 19-year veteran at Watts, says the need to keep up with technology is a major issue for database marketers. ‘One-to-one communication will be the lifeline of direct marketing, and to do this you need proper technology, so that people can tap into databases – especially if they are outsourcing.’

The next session bears the unwieldy title ‘Database Management Ideas for Companies with Small to Mid-Sized Lists,’ and features three speakers: Neil Gallaiford, president of Keystone Response Management; Glenn Kaul, managing director of Value Exchange; and Jennifer Smee, vice-president, operations, of Hampstead House Books. Their presentation promises to offer small players some insight into the tricks of the trade employed by major companies with large lists.

Last up is John Carter, team leader of the analytical services group with Connecticut-based Direct Media. He’ll be explaining the fundamentals of predictive models, and showing how they can improve bottom lines in the direct mail business.

Carter says successful database marketing depends, among other things, on a company’s willingness to invest in the technology. ‘If somebody comes in thinking they can do this without the necessary investment, then there is room for disaster,’ he says.

Technical Track

Richard Boire, vice-president of Young Direct Marketing, will kick things off with a session on data mining, which will cover such issues as the major steps in building predictive models, and the separate roles and responsibilities of both the data analyst and the marketer in this process.

That will be followed by an interactive session on predictive modeling, presented by Dan Legault, president of marketing systems development firm Opal Sky, and Colin Tener, president of Knowledgebase Marketing.

Legault says the practice of predictive modeling is going to be altered dramatically in the next few years by the emergence of new technologies such as enterprise-wide data mining suites. ‘It’s going to change totally the reliability, the quality and the productivity of analysis,’ he predicts.

Finally, Pat Daley, senior manager with Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group/Braxton Associates, will offer her advice on evaluating and analyzing an organization’s database needs.

Daley says one of the major challenges for database marketers today is getting usable knowledge out of a database. ‘Most organizations look at things from a product point of view – `How can we push more of product X to consumers?’ But by looking at the inter-relationships between those products and the customer buying and transaction behaviors, I think one can find a lot more powerful opportunities in the marketplace.’

Fundamentals Track

This full-day seminar, led by instructor James Johnson, will be devoted to database and list basics. Johnson, an entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the database and list game, will range over such issues as list manipulation; customer and prospect management; analytical techniques; the distinctions between database marketing, loyalty marketing, relationship marketing, data mining and data warehousing; and the various types of data.

Closing Plenary

The day’s final session will focus on ethnic lists. Experts Cleve Lu, president of Era Advertising, and Immee Chee Wah, vice-president, business development with the news and business group at Maclean’s, will examine the viability of ethnic marketing, and explain how companies can adapt their databases to collect and use ethnic lists.

‘At this point in time, it’s very difficult to find reliable sources of Chinese and other Asian consumers,’ notes Bob Coles. ‘It’s a hot issue, especially for direct marketers in the telecommunications and financial industries.’

Also in this report:

* Key to growth keeping profitable customers satisfied p.DR13

* Transaction data underutilized, says expert: While many retailers offer loyalty programs, few take full advantage of customer-specific data p.DR14

* E-mail guidelines winning favorable response: Amendments to CDMA’s Code of Ethics lauded as positive step in combatting unscrupulous practices on the Internet p.DR16