Harte-Hanks(R) Trillium Software's Data Quality Solution Helps LMG Nectar Successfully Deliver 10 Million Rebranded Cards

As Part of Major Rebranding, the Successful Mailing of Personalised 'Nectar Cards' Highlights the Effective Data Quality Strategies of Loyalty Management Group in the United Kingdom


ALDERMASTON, UK--(Marketwire - June 9, 2008) - Trillium Software, a business of Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE: HHS), and a leading enabler of Total Data Quality™ solutions, together with its customer Loyalty Management Group (LMG), owner of the Nectar coalition loyalty programme, today revealed how a successful data quality strategy has supported the recent multi-million pound rebranding of Nectar and positioned the program for long-term success.

In the autumn of 2007, LMG mailed rebranded cards to nearly 10 million people to replace cards that were up to five years old. For each collector, a personalised card needed to be produced, then collated with an individualised letter, relevant promotional offers and personalised envelope, all in the correct sequence. According to LMG, the program was one of the largest "recard" mailings in Europe and to ensure its success, collector name, address and other personal details had to be accurate and up-to-date.

"Collector information is our most valuable asset and the quality of that information is everything to us; it's fundamental to our brand," said Louise Cantrill, campaign services manager at Loyalty Management Group. "The Nectar brand could be damaged if collector data lacked integrity, since this would lead to a loss of faith and trust with collectors and partners."

To ensure the accuracy of collector information, LMG implemented the Trillium Software® System to identify and help rectify data quality problems. However, to further avoid incorrect and wasted mailings, the cleansed collector database was matched against a number of enhancement files and suppressions (to remove "goneaways" and "deceased" cardholders for example). LMG knew that in the intervening weeks between extracting the data and mailing the packs, thousands of suppressions would occur, and yet it needed to ensure the data quality and sequencing remained faultless.

"Failing to account for suppressions in the weeks between printing the cards and the mailing, or a sequencing error, would have cost us £150,000 in production and mailing costs," said Cantrill. "The Trillium Software System enabled us to accurately match, identify suppressions and ensure correct card and letter sequencing, which was integral to success."

From initial data capture in LMG's enrolment systems to member data gathered later via multiple touch-points such as its Web site, by update forms, letter and phone, the Trillium Software System identifies data quality issues, cleanses it and integrates collector records. The solution accurately manages suppressions and also ensures that data meets with LMG's business rules. Good data not only enables accurate Nectar mailings, but sophisticated customer profiling, segmentation and targeting of offers.

"Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the high business value of their data and the importance of ensuring its quality," said Ed Wrazen, vice president of product management & strategy at Harte-Hanks Trillium Software. "By taking an enterprise view of data quality, and making ownership of data quality processes the responsibility of the business, LMG has been able to create an accurate single view of member data, ensuring the credibility and value of this key asset and the strength of the Nectar brand."

About Harte-Hanks

Harte-Hanks is a worldwide direct and targeted marketing company that provides marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers. Visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at http://www.harte-hanks.com or call (800) 456-9748.

Harte-Hanks Trillium Software enables organizations to achieve Total Data Quality by providing a full complement of technologies and services providing global data profiling, data cleansing, enhancement, and data linking for e-business, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, data warehouse, and other enterprise applications. For more information about Trillium Software and its offerings, call (978) 436-8900 in the USA and in the United Kingdom call +44 (0) 118 940 7666 or visit Trillium Software online at http://www.trilliumsoftware.com.

This document may contain trademarks that are owned or licensed by Harte-Hanks, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Harte-Hanks, Trillium Software, Total Data Quality, and other names and marks. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

[Editor's Note: British English and spellings are used in this press release.]

Contact Information: Media Contacts: UK and Europe: Derek Harris Harris Communications + 44 (0) 1395 516 613 derek@harriscomms.com USA: Michael Antonellis Harte-Hanks Trillium Software (978) 439-3813 michael_antonellis@trilliumsoftware.com