Before we head off into an exploration of marketing in cyberspace, I would like to put the subject of technology-driven marketing into historical perspective from my own vantage point. In 1974, I became employee number 51 at a small company called Epsilon Data Management.
Epsilon was in the business of helping fund-raising and membership organizations communicate with their constituents—past, current, and future donors or members.
Epsilon’s real business, though, was database marketing. The four Epsilon founders had helped pioneer the use of computer technology to take massive lists of donors’ names and addresses and “smarten” them with data. Each donor record was constructed with variable-length fields so that a lot of data could be stored and tracked. Because each donor could also be given a unique identification number, the data could drive fund-raising programs that recognized the individual donor’s unique characteristics.
Epsilon was one of the leaders in a technique called “variable upgrading.” When each donor received a computer-generated letter, the suggested donation amount could be varied, based on the donor’s previous contribution. A majority of donors would in fact upgrade their gifts to the new suggested amount. Even in mailings of several hundred thousand letters, the technique could be applied. I remember watching the line printers chunking out the letters on continuous form paper.
Epsilon was in the business of helping fund-raising and membership organizations communicate with their constituents—past, current, and future donors or members.
Epsilon’s real business, though, was database marketing. The four Epsilon founders had helped pioneer the use of computer technology to take massive lists of donors’ names and addresses and “smarten” them with data. Each donor record was constructed with variable-length fields so that a lot of data could be stored and tracked. Because each donor could also be given a unique identification number, the data could drive fund-raising programs that recognized the individual donor’s unique characteristics.
Epsilon was one of the leaders in a technique called “variable upgrading.” When each donor received a computer-generated letter, the suggested donation amount could be varied, based on the donor’s previous contribution. A majority of donors would in fact upgrade their gifts to the new suggested amount. Even in mailings of several hundred thousand letters, the technique could be applied. I remember watching the line printers chunking out the letters on continuous form paper.
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