Manage your data

The big data bandwagon is moving forward, but ultimately organizations need accurate data to gain insight.

New health information exchanges are prompting data quality efforts, as state and local healthcare agencies look to electronically share patient data.

What marketers need in order to lay the groundwork for success in their online advertising campaigns.

My Experian Marketing Services’ colleagues and resident data experts Bill Tancer and Marcus Tewskbury answered the above question for marketers during our recent 2012 Holiday Planning Webinar. The webinar recapped key 2011 holiday marketing results, plus featured trends, benchmarks and recommendations for a successful and profitable 2012 holiday shopping season.

Today, it costs more than $40 to send a five pound package from the U.S. to Canada or Mexico. The cost to Europe or South America is even more expensive. For U.S. companies operating on a global scale, such as retail specialists or ecommerce organizations, address accuracy is crucial. Organizations can’t afford undeliverable mail and packages due to a wrong address – the total cost would be unmanageable. Mistakes happen frequently, whether it is an error by the company or the customer. If a mistake is made, companies can’t ask the customer to cover delivery fees, leaving the organization with the bill. Retailers must also consider potential delays due to long distances and custom checks. Altogether, address errors result in a poor customer experience and a decrease in efficiency. Implementing international address verification will save money, time and improve the customer experience. By combining primary address data from national postal authorities with partner-supplied data, businesses can verify international addresses from countries all around the world.

The most effective way to segment a back-to-school audience is to include basic data elements with a segmentation methodology that recognizes the lifestyle and behavioral differences among households containing school-aged children. Experian’s Mosaic lifestyle segmentation solution can provide key insights into this lucrative audience.

Experian Marketing Services found 63 percent of organizations track the lifetme value of each customer. Retailers can ensure data accuracy by using verification tools at the point of capture. Quality data yields better segmentation and intelligence.

The vast majority of Facebook visitors—like most Internet users—say they like websites that take special care to protect their privacy. Yet as the popularity of Facebook grew during 2009 among both younger and older adults, there was a general waning in visitors’ advocacy of online privacy. In fact, the share of Facebook visitors sensitive to privacy protection experienced a 9% relative decline between January and November of 2009. That decline may have continued, were it not for a series of privacy policy updates issued by the social networking giant. In November 2009, Facebook changed its default settings to publicly reveal a larger than before amount of its users’ information. Then in December 2009, the privacy settings were entirely removed from certain categories of users' information. And lastly, in April 2010, users’ General Information became publicly exposed whenever they connected to certain applications or websites, a move that seriously angered many Facebook adherents. Following these changes, the share of Facebook users who are sensitive to privacy protection rose. Specifically, between November 2009 and April 2010, the percent of users who like sites that protect their privacy increased a relative 7%. Facebook’s decision to return, and even simplify, control over privacy settings to account holders may appease users, but whether a subsequent drop in support of online privacy will ensue down the line is far from certain.

Coffee drinkers in America Coffee plays such an integral part of every day life in America that it may be safe to say that coffee helps the United States go round. In fact, fully 60% of all U.S. households use either whole or ground coffee beans at home. Experian Simmons extensively reviewed the American coffee drinker for this report which features detailed insights into the coffee-drinking American. In addition, we compare the patrons of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, the leading players in the battle for brew. Coffee in the Home The average U.S. household that uses whole or ground coffee consumes 4.2 cups per day. In total that’s about 280.5 million cups of coffee consumed at home by Americans each day or about 102 billion cups per year. Among households that use coffee, 89% stock regular coffee and 46% stock decaf.* Among households that use coffee, 84% use pre-ground coffee and 26% use whole bean coffee at least some of the time.* Instant Flavored Coffee Over a quarter of households (27%) stock instant coffee. Sixteen percent of households use instant flavored coffee. The most commonly used flavors among instant flavored coffee drinkers are: Older Americans More Likely to Drink Coffee Fifty-seven percent of adults ages 18-24 live in households that use coffee, but 25 to 34 year olds are the least likely to stock coffee in their cupboards with only 54% reporting they use whole or ground bean coffee at home. Coffee Use Increases with Household Income Seventy percent of Americans who report annual household incomes of $150,000+ drink coffee compared with 54% of those with household income less than $25,000. Dunkin' Donuts Vs. Starbucks Dunkin' Donuts 11% of American adults go to DD Between 9.15.08 and 9.15.09 the share of DD customers who go there 6+ times a month is up 11%* DD consumers are 41% more likely than the average adult to be registered Independents and 9% less likely to be registered Republicans Starbucks 13% of American adults go to Starbucks Between 9.15.08 and 9.15.09 the share of Starbucks customers who go there 6+ times a month is down 22% Starbucks consumers are 11% more likely to be registered Independents and 11% more likely to be registered Republicans Coffee Drinkers Are Coffee Drinkers A majority of coffee-drinking Americans are loyal to their franchise. However, there are a considerable number of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks consumers who jump between coffee houses. How Often Americans Order Their Coffee The majority of both Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks customers visit each chain between one and five times in a typical month. Learn more about Simmons consumer research and studies.