Since Forrester last published a Wave of Database Marketing Service Providers (MSPs), the landscape and the market have changed significantly. How?

  • Consolidation of major players. For example 2 of the 12 vendors in our 2007 Wave were acquired by other Wave vendors (Acxiom acquired ChoicePoint's database business and more recently Epsilon picked up Equifax's direct marketing division which included it's data and database offerings).
  • Market entry from non-traditional MSPs. We have seen further consolidation from outside the traditional database players. e-Dialog, an email service provider recently acquired MBS Insight, and in the UK, TV service provider Sky absorbed Experian's UK database business.
  • Changes in  how marketers communicate with consumers. Perhaps the biggest change is how database marketing service providers have evolved beyond managing repositories for direct mail to performing as customer intelligence hubs – becoming a strategic asset as a single source of customer knowledge. These customer intelligence hubs, enable marketers to communicate with their customers and prospects not only in traditional direct channels, but across media including digital, mobile, social, and, on the horizon, addressable TV. And, as consumers increasingly control how and when companies communicate with them, marketers must leverage their customer intelligence across inbound, and not just outbound channels.
 
So how does your service provider measure up? As we update the Wave, we are surveying and interviewing customers of MSPs to get your perspective. To take the survey, please go here.
 
All survey responses are anonymous and only reported in aggregate. We expect the Wave to go live in November or December, and every survey participant will receive a copy of the published report.
 
Cheers,
Dave