Databases

You can't take your eyes off databases for a moment. Just when you thought your list was clean and de-duped, a fire in Mombassa renders 3000 addresses useless. If you're the bureau or mailing house and some or all of those addresses are on your client's list, it is your responsibility to know about it and advise the client of the futility of despatching those particular items.

This is just another example highlighting the complexities of international mailings, many of which concern the proper maintenance of lists and database - if not on an hourly then certainly a daily basis.

Ask UK organisations that say they mail 'internationally' what is their global reach and you are likely to find the answer is mainland Europe, North America - Canada and the US - and Australia. Ask the same question of US-based international mailers, like publishers and catalogue vendors, and they will say that while Europe is important, it is relatively sophisticated, tried and tested. The richer pickings are in the emerging markets of PacRim countries, Japan, central and south America which is why they are expending a significant amount of money and effort targeting those countries' consumers and businesses.

There is no substitute for experience, it is true, but even then a high level of dedication and application is still required if production and postage costs are not to be wasted despatching mailings that have no chance of being delivered.

Within recent months, no fewer than 22 countries either instituted postcodes for the first time, announced plans to do so or made changes to existing codes. The day they became or become effective, all your previous addresses are going to be WRONG unless a) your formatting software is capable of being upgraded or enhanced on a country by country basis and b) your department is abreast of these developments and has actioned same.

In addition to the above, 15 new countries have emerged from the former USSR comprising those of the Baltic states and the newly created Commonwealth of Industrialised States (CIS), one of which - Belarus - has changed its preferred spelling from Byelarus.

 The world is constantly changing and computer bureaux, list brokers and owners will have to be abreast and stay abreast of these changes as they occur. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia as we once knew them no longer exist - replaced by two and five new countries respectively - Hong Kong reverts to China on 1 July 1997 and Macao in 1999.

 As a consequence, list users are right to ask 'What is a correct address for such-and-such a country?' Apart from ensuring that the current country name is correct and the latest postcodes are in use if they apply, there can be more than one 'correct' answer to the question. At Alphamedia, our emphasis is always to see that the envelope or package has sufficient information to ensure deliverability.

 I use the term 'sufficient information' because in some countries - notably those in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking nations - there is not always a common convention throughout the country as to how individuals are named.

 For example, some persons may take their maternal surname; while others dispense with it. Some may use it before their known last surname; while others will append it after the husband's. In such cases, it is often perfectly acceptable to use initials for everything but the last name. Depending on whether the mailing is a business item or a consumer mailing, it can also be acceptable to omit titles and abbreviate spellings. Always, it is a question of not only knowing, but also understanding, the conventions and courtesies which apply in a country and observing them to the best of your ability.

 Are we taking things too far? I think not. Consider that in Canada and Germany, to name just two examples, the postal authorities will not even attempt to deliver mail that does not conform exactly to their prescribed format. What is the point of even hoping that, like the Pony Express, the mail will, somehow, get through if it's incorrectly addressed to these countries? There is none!

 But you probably won't know, because the chances of getting your undelivered mail back, no matter whether you've used a return address or not, are remote in the extreme. You will never know until, that is, you come to measure your response rates! They may give you a clue. At that point, you can start to estimate the wasted costs in both postage and production.

 It is generally found that international data bought or rented outside the country to which it refers is often of a poor standard. This is especially true where data entry is undertaken by staff unfamiliar with the conventions, formats and postal regulations applicable in different countries.

 Since the power of direct mail lies in its ability to address individuals, it therefore follows that these conventions and formats should be understood and used correctly if that power is not to be undermined and undervalued.

 As pan-European and truly multinational mailings become the norm, data processing bureaux used by direct marketers must abandon the previous practice of processing overseas mailings with the same conventions that apply to their domestic market.

 Today, more sophisticated and efficient procedures capable of accommodating the various permutations of international naming and address conventions are available and must be adopted. There are many national variations of addresses which can significantly affect the de-duplication parameters that a bureau will define.

 Where datasets obtained from mixed sources are processed, some form of standardisation is required to ensure that the dedupe is able to compare the relevant elements of a name and address record and hence achieve a consistent and reliable match. While complicated and complex neither one nor all of these difficulties combined is insurmountable.

 Although the additional data processing required inevitably has cost implications, it will definitely improve delivery times for the post and ensure that the recipient is not immediately alienated by a poorly addressed item. Such attention to detail undoubtedly affects response rates.

 There is also the emotive issue of personalisation. Questions start to arise particularly when mailings are undertaken in the local language. Specific defaults must be capable of covering the variations in gender and mother tongue, especially in countries such as Switzerland and Belgium.

 As every good student of Direct Mail knows, the points of leverage, listed in order are: List, Offer, Timing, Creative/Format. With Format being the least influencing factor, why go to the trouble of taking account of local conventions to boost response? Because a disregard of the subtleties of local formats ignores the very cornerstone of Direct Marketing: the individuality of your customer or prospect.

 If it is true - and it is - that often too little attention is paid at the data capture stage, then bureau such as Alphamedia have to remain alert to changes as they take place and develop software with the utmost flexibility

 Fulfilment House direct mail letter printing  mailing house direct mail mailing lists e-mail lists marketing Direct Mail Direct Marketing mailing house fulfilment

Please contact our Webmaster with questions or comments.
© Copyright 1997 Alphamedia, Inc.  All rights reserved.