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Technology Stocks : MessageMedia Inc. (MESG) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gutterball who wrote (473)	1/14/2000 7:15:00 PM
From: Gutterball	Respond to of 553

Comments on --->Attractive E-mail Marketing Stocks Ms Graham is either being paid to tout the stocks she touts, or she doesn't know what she is talking about. I take exception to her comments on "takeovers". The only company who will takeover a pissant emailer, will be another pissant emailer looking to grow its subscription list. Real companies will look to outsource their email rather than assume any charges to earnings associated with the takeover. In contrast, the beauty of Messagemedia, is that it has 9,000 retailers already signed up with Yahoo! that it can mine. It doesn't have to buy its lists.

To: Gutterball who wrote (473)	1/22/2000 1:01:00 PM
From: Gutterball	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 553

CRM Activities Greatly Influencing New-Car Buyers Polk Study Reveals Finance and Relationship-Oriented Actions Impact the Most DETROIT, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on results of a study released today by The Polk Company, auto manufacturers might want to take closer to heart the old maxim that it is better to keep a current customer than find a new one, by expanding their customer relationship management (CRM) activities. An analysis of Polk's Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator(TM) (MLEX) study suggests that a significant sample of new-car buyers in 1999 reported that they were influenced in their purchase decisions by CRM activities associated with the vehicles they owned prior to their acquiring a new one. The new-car buyers sampled reported being exposed to the following CRM efforts prior to their purchase: CRM EFFORTS EXPERIENCED PRIOR TO PURCHASE* 81.0% - Coupons for discounted service from the dealer 79.1% - Maintenance reminder letters 76.3% - Personalized letters from the vehicle manufacturer 72.6% - Owner magazines 66.9% - Personalized letters from the dealership Source: Polk First Six Months, 1999 Model Year The same vehicle buyers also reported on the CRM efforts that made the greatest impact on their purchase decision: FIVE MOST INFLUENTIAL CRM EFFORTS 36.5% - 800 numbers for questions 35.8% - Personalized letters from the dealership 34.4% - Owner magazines 34.0% - Promotional fliers from the dealership 33.0% - Newsletter from manufacturer Source: Polk First Six Months, 1999 Model Year, #Includes those Strongly or Somewhat Influenced Two of the five items that customers reported receiving the most frequently (personalized letters from the dealership and owner magazines) were also rated as being the most influential in new purchase decisions. The other three activities reported as being influential, but not received as frequently, were a toll-free number for questions, promotional fliers from the dealership, and a newsletter from the manufacturer. Interestingly, two of the most influential items (personalized letters from the dealership and promotional fliers from the dealership) are at least partially under the control of the dealer. The other three are much more under the domain of the vehicle manufacturer. Commenting on the study, Polk automotive analyst Lisa Wood said: ''CRM refers to the notion that it is better to build and maintain relationships with customers rather than simply sell them the company's products. CRM is apt to allow the customer to control the relationship, more so than traditional marketing efforts. In fact, it is frequently referred to as 'permission marketing.''' Wood said that although building a relationship might be more expensive in the short term, auto manufacturers are seeing value in the long-term gains that far outweigh the near-term costs. ''Of course, CRM efforts are not completely new to auto manufacturers, but they're certainly being expanded, and the customer is playing a much larger role.'' The Polk study indicates that CRM involves one-to-one marketing, requiring manufacturers to be willing to customize. ''An important component of what level of individual treatment a customer receives can be based on the predicted lifetime value of the customer,'' Wood said. ''This refers to how much revenue/profit can be associated with a given customer throughout the entire customer interaction lifecycle.'' Wood expanded to say that the lifecycle includes not only such things as the number and types of vehicles customers acquire throughout their lifetimes, but also includes items such as customers' tendencies to require warranty work, their decisions about how to finance a vehicle and where they take it for service. ''The idea of lifetime value is both an essential and elusive component of CRM, and the auto manufacturers are continually refining their techniques for predicting this key element,'' the Polk analyst said. Polk's Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator (MLEX), the basis for these findings, provides consumer behavior insight and was created to provide household loyalty information to manufacturers at various levels. MLEX determines loyalty percentages for the entire automotive industry, provides cross-industry comparisons of loyalty behavior, and examines loyalty at various levels, e.g., from the industry level down to the vehicle-line level. The study measures loyalty throughout an entire model year to identify trends as they occur in the industry. Polk is a global company delivering multi-dimensional intelligence to the auto industry to enhance the relationships consumers have with brands. Through lifetime understanding of individuals, Polk helps clients maintain current customers, win new ones and build their brand loyalty. Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk is a privately held firm currently operating in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information, contact Dan Willis, Polk's director of public relations, at 248-728-7827 or by pager at 800-406-8457. SOURCE: The Polk Company biz.yahoo.com