Life events affect consumers dynamically – they buy new cars, get married, have children and try to keep pace with a busy and complex world. Unfortunately, companies trying to keep pace must often wait for days and sometimes weeks for static information that reflects nothing about the actions, behaviour and preferences of the consumers they want to reach. Read on to find out more.

1. An Acxiom White Paper
The Next Generation of Information

2. Introduction To address current business and consumer
demands for intuitive information, Acxiom is
Life events affect consumers dynamically – they
building its next generation InfoBase® platform.
buy new cars, get married, have children and try
Currently in development, the next generation
to keep pace with a busy and complex world.
of InfoBase begins with the most robust data
Unfortunately, companies trying to keep pace
asset – thousands of individual elements –
must often wait for days and sometimes weeks
available in the industry today. To turn that asset
for static information that reflects nothing about
into intuition, the new platform provides tools and
the actions, behaviour and preferences of the
interfaces that let companies design and deliver
consumers they want to reach.
data to match their unique business flows and
solve specific problems. Unique in its ability to
New generations of consumers young and old
deliver only the data elements that clients specify
continue to develop bigger and increasingly more
and only when that data changes in ways that are
sophisticated appetites for products and services.
relevant to the client’s business objectives, the
As consumer confidence reaches an all-time low,
next generation of InfoBase succeeds in bringing
companies that rely on relationships for success
data into focus quickly so that it can be used to
must respond with products and services that
deliver the most effective messages to consumers
speak directly to the needs of these “next
when, where and how they prefer to be
generation” consumers. Information used to
contacted.
address today’s consumers must be fresh –
nobody wants to see that fabulous finance offer
Business drivers for the next generation
three weeks after the purchase of a new car.
Information designed to capture consumer Before companies can provide truly intuitive
attention must be accurate – nobody wants and meaningful offers to consumers, they must
free nappies in the post as a youngest child resolve significant issues related to how they
starts pre-school. access and use information.
Focus on the sources
And perhaps most importantly, information
must be relevant and delivered to people So, where can companies hoping to market
at home addresses. Fresh, relevant and successfully to today’s consumers start?
meaningful information about consumers The beginning must still be accurate information.
drives the requirements for effective marketing. Focus in today’s environment shifts from the
amount of available data to the quality and
John Naisbitt, business leader and author of meaning of that data. To be effective, data must
the Megatrends series, asserts that “intuition reflect the multi-dimensional nature of consumers,
becomes increasingly valuable in the new must come from a variety of sources – such as
information age precisely because there is so behaviour, lifestyle, life stage and purchase activity
much data.” To focus data into true information – and must be accurate. Effective marketing
intuition, IT offerings must evolve into next- messages must speak a new language – one built
generation solutions that begin with a keen from a rich variety of sources but delivered in
understanding of the problems and consumer targeted, seamless and fully integrated ways
demands that drive business. designed to ease consumer acceptance.

3. Search for a needle across product and industry lines. Consumers do
not split themselves, their time and their assets
Companies that rely solely on information updates
into separate parts and companies that want
to craft their messages to consumers face a
to understand the most effective way to deliver
problem. In most cases, information updates,
holistic marketing messages to these consumers
when they come at all, come in the form of large
should not do so either.
files full of every piece of information known to
and about man. The volume of available data
What companies need to know about are
often clouds its value to businesses trying to turn
significant changes in the types of data that
information into viable consumer interactions.
drive consumers to take action or respond
Marketers must sift through masses of information
positively to the right message or offering. As
with no way to determine what has changed or
Nobel Prize winner David Hubel put it, “We need
what is relevant to the message for today.
above all to know about changes; no one wants
or needs to be reminded 16 hours a day that his
This needle-in-a-haystack approach makes finding
shoes are on.”
the right data to craft the right message almost
impossible. Standard updates supplied at defined
Intuition with impact
intervals slow time to market for the most
innovative products and often result in after-the- To address the complexities facing many
fact offers and responses. As marketers search companies today, the time has come to usher
for the ‘needle of truth’, consumers continue in the next generation of information processing
living their daily lives and opportunities pass by. solutions that shift focus away from consumer
Any competitor with timely access to relevant information organised by product lines to
updates with respect to consumers can make information organised by changing events in
hay and walk away with the sale. consumers’ lives as they occur; these next
generation solutions, from the ground up,
Synchronise your watches
must be:
In addition to what information gets delivered to a
• Built to solve specific business problems
company, when that information arrives represents
An effective information-processing solution
a significant factor in its usability and success.
must break down product or industry silos
In many current information update processes,
and enable flexible options modelled to
updates are not available for days or weeks
wrap around and adapt to the most
after the occurrence of an event affecting the
vexing problems facing businesses today.
consumer. This data latency – the time between
when an event occurs and when a company • Defined by business, for business
receives an information update – can result in These solutions put power in the hands of
too little, too late responses. companies, enabling rapid definition for just
the elements and information needed to
Separate the wheat
target consumers.
Data delivery often revolves around artificial
• Delivered quickly
industry or product lines that have very little to do
What formerly took days or even weeks to
with a company’s specific business goals. Instead
receive gets delivered, more quickly, enabling
of receiving information about all consumers
companies to make sure that relevant
organised by vertical industries, companies need a
messages meet their target audiences in
way to focus their efforts on specific targets – a
time to make the sale.
segment of consumers, a particular demographic,
a lifestyle change or trigger event – that moves

4. Built to solve specific business problems Next generation solution
Consumers don’t care that a car financing system To address shifting business requirements and
is built on a different platform than a home equity lead the migration of intuitive information solutions
line of credit system. When they are ready to into the next generation, Acxiom is developing its
buy, they want the best rates and the most new InfoBase platform. This solution lays the
relevant offers, and they want to drive that new foundation for multi-sourced, business-driven
car home today. data that responds to changing events.
The first step toward creating more accurate, The next generation of InfoBase puts business
accessible and relevant data involves finding a requirements and flows at the centre of a three
way from inception to define and package that step approach – Build, Event, Deliver.
data to target specific business flows. Up to this
• Step 1
point, most data providers have looked at data
Builds a data structure based on flexible rules
solutions in terms of lines of business or specific
to identify changes related to specific events
industries. The car financing company pulls data
and triggers automated responses to ensure
and sends offers with great rates but often sends
the richest set of individual multi-sourced
those offers to people who either just purchased
elements
or are not in a position to purchase a new car.
What companies need is a way to define at
• Step 2
the front end, the specific information they are
Allows companies to specify data packages
looking for so that they can be notified before
with elements built around events and
or as consumer events occur.
targeted at solving business problems
Defined by business, for business
• Step 3
A next generation solution must allow companies
Delivers results automatically and directly to
to define the specific elements they want rather
companies, with flexible options including a
than receiving huge amounts of ill-defined and
highly-tuned user interface
uncategorised data. With a next generation
solution for the car financing company, for
example, the company would specify that it wants
information about all consumers with a car about
to reach pay off status, with a child about to turn
17, with a big promotion to an executive position
or with excess income to spend. The data this
company receives prompts the company to
make relevant offers to the groups of consumers
that match this rich event definition – no more
sifting through large volumes of unchanged
data, no more wasted costs with irrelevant or
late marketing messages and no more missed
opportunities.
Delivered directly
The best information tailored to business flows
means nothing if it does not reach the hands of
the companies that can do something about it.
Next generation solutions must highlight delivery
mechanisms for getting the right data into the
hands of the right companies. Automated
processes that deliver select information directly
to a company’s user desktops ensure that event
rich data is available for use in a timely and
effective way.

5. Build a dynamic mouse trap Turn elements into meaningful events
The next generation build lays the foundation Life is all about the daily and significant
for all other processes to ensure operational events that happen to all of us – from births to
efficiencies and enable rapid changes. Not directly graduations to marriages to retirement. Reaching
interfacing to companies, the build nonetheless consumers with significant and meaningful
provides the framework and utilities required to marketing messages involves knowing about
support the definition and delivery of event-rich and understanding these events as they occur.
information to companies through the Event The next generation Event component gives
and Deliver components. companies the tools – from an easy-to-use
subscription interface to e-mail notification
The build process makes all data event-driven –needed to keep pace with the marketable
data and provides the following benefits: events that occur every day across customer
and prospect bases. Event provides the
• Ensures the high level of data accuracy following benefits:
expected from Acxiom
• Puts ultimate flexibility into the hands
• Updates the data that is most important of companies to:
to companies
– Define what is important to them and
• Answers specific business problems with determine what constitutes an event
flexible rules to identify and process unique
– Subscribe to the events that drive
elements
important business decisions
• Enhances interfaces to other systems to
– Receive automated notification and updates
facilitate seamless integration of multiple
to only the subscription data that changes
data sources
• Enables more frequent updates of information
• Provides operational efficiencies that facilitate
with change notification for significant events
data changes to reduce data latency
• Creates additional opportunities for companies
• Supports multiple data sources with an
to up-sell and cross-sell to their customers
open design
using fresh and more frequent updates
Automating responses received on demand
All components in the next generation build are Identifying significant events
designed with flexibility and automation in mind.
Event enables companies to subscribe to the
To deliver unique and targeted data packages
specific data elements they need to achieve
to order, the build process begins upstream
desired business goals. Companies choose
to ensure that all rules, product values,
from the richest bed of elements in the industry
data sources and delivery methods provide
compiled from multiple sources to tailor
end-to-end automation.
information requests on demand.
The build lays the foundation to simplify the
Company-defined events vary as much as
process of sorting through mountains of complex
companies’ business goals do. At the introductory
data to identify the golden nuggets of events.
level, companies can choose from diverse
The Build design facilitates fast responses to
elements and receive automated raw data
requests for specific business data.
updates for all selected elements. Intermediary
Removing data latency event definitions might include defining thresholds
to receive data updates by percentage or types
Getting the information companies need is the
of changes – for example, companies might
first part of the equation for business success;
specify that they want to receive an update for
getting the information when they need it solves
a particular event when it affects 25% of their
the problem. By focusing only on the information
top-tier customers.
that changes from one build to the next, the
next generation of InfoBase enables a targeted
re-evaluation that makes information available
to companies more quickly.

6. At the other end of the spectrum, event-definition Communicating results
flexibility enables companies to combine elements,
In addition to allowing companies to define the
behaviour and life changes to create complex,
information they want, the Event process lets
multi-dimensional focus on unique business
companies define when and where to receive
problems. Instead of simply responding to events,
information. Event provides multiple methods for
companies using next generation Event can
receiving notifications and data changes ranging
engage in predictive analysis using historical
from individual or group e-mail, to automated
trends to drive future responses.
file processing, to direct program-to-program
communication. These methods allow the next
Event also works with PersonicX®, Acxiom’s
generation InfoBase solution to communicate
premiere household-level segmentation system,
directly with third-party interfaces including
to provide companies with information on when
the most critical master data management
consumers move from one PersonicX cluster to
(MDM) solutions.
the next. This alerts companies when something
significant happens in their customers’ lives that Setting reminders
might prompt changes in purchase behaviour
Event provides two levels of reminders – basic
and require response. PersonicX clusters provide
and advanced ticklers – to maximise the benefits
over 52 unique portraits based on multiple
of event-based processing. With the basic tickler,
characteristics such as consumer demographics
companies receive notifications when a category
and behaviour.
of information changes; they can then decide,
based on the type of information and its value,
To simplify the definition process, Event also
whether to request an information update.
provides pre-defined data collection built by
Acxiom analysts to organise and group the most
The advanced tickler functionality provides even
commonly used elements into business-flow
more flexibility through a self-serve model that
packages that companies can purchase.
informs companies when specific elements to
Pushing maximum benefits which they subscribe change and allows them
to decide when and where to receive updates.
Current models for information updates typically
This proactive approach to information changes
involve scheduled updates at regular intervals.
puts a new level of power into companies’ hands
Here companies receive large data files which
to respond quickly to the many changes that
must be sifted through to pinpoint the information
occur in consumers’ daily lives.
needed. Next generation Event changes
the model completely by pushing only the Deliver data directly to the target
consumer-event data that companies want.
As the final step in a complete event-driven
update process, the next generation Deliver
The push methodology accelerates market
component provides the tools that enable full
responses not only by pushing information
service, self service and programmatic delivery
automatically without specific requests, but also
options. An easy-to-use interface puts options
by providing only the data that companies need,
at companies’ fingertips for getting relevant
eliminating the expensive and time-consuming
information when and where they want it. Armed
effort of culling through volumes of unchanged
with the right information, companies can then
data to find desired information.
craft meaningful consumer interactions that lead
to lifetime relationships.
Instead of waiting for a file or report at some
pre-defined interval, Event takes the relationship Deliver provides the following benefits:
between consumer life events and actionable • Adds flexibility to the way companies define
responses to the next level. Event identifies and receive data
changes in any elements companies define
as significant and automatically notifies them • Provides an intuitive, web-based user interface
about changes. that lets companies control all aspects of
the data they use every day – from acquiring
and selecting significant elements to
defining orders

7. • Enhances third-party interfaces to create Speeding delivery
true interactions and drive a more complete
Sometimes the most effective way to achieve
consumer view across all potential channels
a competitive advantage involves getting there
• Speeds time to market with an end-to-end first. Deliver facilitates speed to market and can
solution that focuses on real business provide a competitive advantage to companies by
problems, not artificial product silos delivering required information in greatly reduced
time frames.
Focusing on business solutions
Same Acxiom service
One of the most important benefits of the next
generation InfoBase is its ability to wrap A well-designed platform built to solve specific
information and deliver data elements around company business requirements addresses only
business flows. Historically, data updates half of the equation for information systems in
consisted of categories or types of information today’s complex environment; the total equation
organised by industry or some type of artificial reads: platform + service = solution. With over 30
product designation. years of experience in the information processing
industry, Acxiom understands how to surround
The data storage capability for the new InfoBase innovative tools with superior service to achieve
platform allows for updates to data and singles optimal results. The next generation services are
out elements to support business flows based on no exception.
company definitions. The very way that data is
Packaging business solutions
stored and structured enables a ‘cafeteria’
approach for companies to pick and choose With thousands of possible elements to choose
elements and for applications to access data. from, the process of defining and selecting just
the elements companies need to achieve the
Choosing the right delivery methods
desired results can be daunting. Sometimes
After solving questions about what data to receive companies know exactly what they want, or need,
and when to receive it, companies must decide but not where to find it; sometimes companies
on the best delivery mechanism or how to receive know where to find data but not how to define
information updates. Deliver provides multiple and combine it to achieve business goals.
options for data delivery including, but not limited
to, direct program-to-program interfaces for Next generation InfoBase offers industry-specific
integrated access by Acxiom or third party packages that combine elements and
systems and standard batch processing. recommend update and delivery options,
allowing companies to receive updated
Serving yourself
information promptly, helping drive results that
The Deliver component provides an intuitive user achieve their business goals. With the next
interface that puts important information choices generation of packaged business solutions,
into the hands of companies. Wrapped in an companies can come out of the gate ready
easy-to-use, web-based front end, the Deliver to target the most difficult business problems
user interface allows companies to define with intuitive information solutions.
processing options, select elements for continual
Analysing future needs
updates and acquire new elements to support
business from many disparate sources through In addition to off-the-shelf business solutions,
a single cohesive portal. Providing a window Acxiom offers consulting services through its
into the next-generation InfoBase platform, team of associates with expertise in database
the Deliver front end also enables broker access marketing. With years of experience and the
to information. ability to apply effective analytical methods,
models and solutions to companies’ business
In addition to advanced self-serve models, Deliver problems, Acxiom consultants can help
provides the same full-service data delivery that companies define events and drive results
differentiates Acxiom in the industry. from a next-generation solution.

8. Next generation scenarios The final phone contact campaign addresses
the top end of the income spectrum within the
Perhaps the best way to highlight the power
target group – people who interact with private
available to users of the InfoBase next-generation
bankers and who like a personal touch.
solution is through the following fictional scenarios
A marketing manager assigns ticklers using
that illustrate how it can be used to solve unique
Event to the best salespeople who call these
business problems.
consumers with an offer of 20% savings and a
Scenario 1: A new channel designer service offering. The retailer contacts
the consumers within two weeks of completion
Based on research and demographic studies
on their home purchase, resulting in a 10%
within their target market, a furnishing company
increase of sales from the new line.
determine a need to create a new line
of furniture based on unique lifestyle elements Scenario 2: Lifetime relationships
and targeting a specific customer base. This line
Southern Mutual is a virtual company providing
addresses the needs of dynamic duos – career
investment consulting and insurance services
focused young couples with a heightened sense
to a wide range of consumers across the UK.
of style who want designer surroundings and are
With a 500 strong sales team, Southern Mutual
willing to pay a little more for it, but who do not
already demonstrates marketing prowess through
have the time or the interest to put the looks
targeted direct mail campaigns and individual
together themselves. The new line, called “Rooms
follow up; now the company wants to launch a
with a View,” addresses this specific customer
“personal touch” campaign to establish more
base by offering entire rooms of co-ordinating
connections with its customers and prospects
furniture and accessories built around themes
and to encourage lifetime relationship
– such as Midnight in Morocco or Lichtenstein
management. This scenario details one
in London – combined with unique decorating
Consultant’s use of the next-generation InfoBase
services to ensure a personal touch.
platform to accomplish these goals.
Buyers and designers for the company build an
Joe Riley, a personal investment consultant with
event portrait in InfoBase Event of a group of
Southern Mutual, wants to establish and expand
first-time home buyers with a range of purchase
his relationships with a specific segment of his
behaviour that indicates prime qualities for the
customer base. Joe is fairly new to the business
new line campaign. In addition to having just
and eager to prove himself. He knows that if he
purchased a home, these dynamic duos earn an
can attract the most profitable, or most potentially
average of more than £75,000 annually, have
profitable, customers early and deliver meaningful
recently purchased sophisticated electronics or
and quality service to them at every major event
original artwork and holiday abroad at least one
or life change, he can establish a relationship
week every year.
likely to last a lifetime.
The furnishing company uses the information
Joe reviews all of the elements associated with
provided by the next-generation InfoBase platform
the various segments of consumers in his
to drive a multi-tiered campaign of three different
business area. Using the Event interface, he
offers for the new line, based on event data results
identifies the key elements associated with the
and consumer contact preferences. The first offer
group he currently wants to target. The
involves an e-mail campaign to the target group
professional singles category includes up-and-
who recently bought electronics and who prefer
coming career focused young adults, like himself,
e-mail contact. The offer highlights 10% in savings
to whom Joe knows he can relate and sell
with a gift certificate from a local electronics store.
products.
The second offer leverages a direct mail campaign
targeting the more traditional group who prefer
Key elements for finding the right people to target
to browse and often shop through catalogues.
include age, income level, amount of disposable
The catalogue illustrates multiple elegant room
income, occupation, geographic area, marital
configurations from the new line with 15% in
status, personal preferences for music and films,
savings for purchases within the month.
purchase history and homeowner status.

9. Working with his marketing department through Joe sets up events related to the lifestyle interests
the Event interface, Joe highlights these elements and purchase behaviour of his target customers
and defines how he wants to receive information and crafts his products and selling techniques
about this target group. Based on his requests, based on the results he receives from the new
Joe receives a list of professional single InfoBase platform.
consumers within his sales area with an additional
report detailing their last three major purchases – The Kennedys have their first child – another
flat screen TV, new laptop, MP3 player – that major life event. With an automated notification
indicate those whose disposable income and from next generation InfoBase, Joe is able to
desire for more stability and home-based products send his congratulations to the hospital. After an
are on the rise. appropriate time, Joe follows up with more warm
wishes and details about the best education
Joe sends a note of introduction to everyone on savings plans. The new parents are relieved that
his list who matches his ideal customer portrait. someone they trust knows so much about the
In the note, Joe includes a picture of himself and best path to take for their child’s future
a gift card for digital music along with his favourite investment. Joe sets up a plan that automatically
playlist. Joe details some of the ways he can help adjusts growth and risk at major milestones in
busy professionals get on track with their finances the child’s life and reviews the plan at regular
– from retirement planning, to holiday savings, to intervals – prompted by the event process –
getting ready to purchase that first designer urban with the Kennedys to ensure that it yields the
loft apartment. Joe hears back from several of his appropriate results.
target consumers and sets up retirement accounts
for them. Using Event, Joe sets up basic ticklers Joe continues his relationship with the Kennedys
for birthdays and special events of all his target and with other couples like them with whom
consumers,including an advanced tickler to he has been able to establish meaningful
notify him if anything changes in his pre-defined relationships through his timely and
elements based on personal status or purchase knowledgeable responses to life events. Joe
behaviour. This, he hopes will create future works with the couple through the birth of another
opportunities to further his established child; he solidifies his efforts through the couple’s
relationships. retirement plan and later becomes the trustee in
the couple’s estate planning.
A few weeks later, Joe receives notification of a
major life event for one of his new customers – Along the way to establishing lifelong relationships
Tony Kennedy is getting married. Joe sends a with his target customers, Joe uses the next
note of congratulations to Tony and his fiancée generation InfoBase platform to its full potential to
with a small token of his appreciation for their identify and track the most profitable customers,
business. Tony responds with a call asking Joe to establish and respond to key events and to
how he can include his new wife on his retirement receive automated reminders and updates at the
plans and inquiring about insurance policies for most beneficial times. As a result of establishing
both. Because she is moving into Tony’s bachelor a clear portrait for his target demographic, Joe
pad, Joe knows it’s only a matter of time before is able to get a list from Acxiom of prospective
the new couple buy a house. He updates the customers who have moved into his sales area
advanced tickler to notify him when this event for and who match the portraits of his most
this customer occurs and all others who match successful existing customers. Joe continues
this portrait. his success by following up with these potential
customers to begin the lifetime management
The Kennedys, now a cash and career couple, process anew with them.
get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Based on his
Event definitions and the migration to a new
PersonicX cluster, next-generation InfoBase
notifies Joe about the potential home purchase.
Joe calls the Kennedys with a timely quote for
home insurance and sells them a policy.

10. Conclusion
To reach the next generation of consumers,
whose increasingly sophisticated demands often
mirror significantly decreasing confidence,
companies must respond quickly with relevant
marketing messages based on accurate, fresh
and multidimensional data built from a wider range
of lifestyle, behaviour and demographic options.
To respond to current consumer demands and
address business drivers for companies, Acxiom
is developing its next-generation InfoBase
platform. Built on the richest data asset available
in the industry and incorporating demographics,
lifestyle clusters, life events, consumer behaviour,
buying activity and historical trends, this solution
ensures the accuracy, coverage and adherence to
standards that have become Acxiom trademarks.
Then the next-generation InfoBase platform takes
this rich data asset to a whole new level by
putting power into the hands of companies and
allowing them to define and combine sets of
elements to establish the unique events that
drive their business.
The newest InfoBase solution turns event-driven
information into true, actionable intuition about
consumers. Built with state-of-the-art technology
and input from professional data analysts, next
generation InfoBase reduces data latency by
delivering only data changes for the events that
companies specify as relevant to their business
objectives. Acxiom’s nextgeneration solution
for consumer event data provides the tools –
including easy-to-use interfaces for defining
events and selecting data delivery methods –
that offer companies the flexibility they need to
craft, package and deliver meaningful marketing
messages to consumers today and to adjust
event-driven data packages as consumers’
needs change over time.

11. See how Acxiom can work for you. For more information call:
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or visit: www.acxiom.co.uk
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