BellSouth And Harte-Hanks Win Database Excellence 'Gold Award' for Business-To-Business Marketing

December 15, 2006; 12:59 AM

ORLANDO, FL –  Harte-Hanks (NYSE:HHS) announced that the company and its telecommunications client, BellSouth Small Business, are "Gold Award" recipients in the "B-to-B Marketing" category of the National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) 2006 Database Excellence Awards, which "honor organizations that have demonstrated ingenuity and creativity in leveraging their marketing databases."

BellSouth Small Business and Harte-Hanks were honored for BellSouth's "Welcome" program for first-time customers.  The two companies collaborated on the program which is designed to combine "new customer" relationship management with product marketing to improve retention and to up-sell and cross-sell additional products and services through more rapid, customer-focused communications.  

Integrating e-mail, direct mail and telemarketing into a cohesive, data-driven communications process for new customers – a process known as customer onboarding – the "Welcome" program has significantly exceeded the company’s revenue and retention goals, according to the award entry.

Winners were announced at the NCDM Database Excellence Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, December 12, 2006, in Orlando, FL.  

In its efforts to support BellSouth Small Business, Harte-Hanks worked with the company to develop a new strategy to engage first-time customers with the brand, to retain their business through the critical early stages of the relationship, and to measure program performance.  The effort encompassed the development of a database specifically for the management of first-time customers, and a series of customizable multichannel communications and offers to demonstrate the quality, value and personal attention that BellSouth Small Business delivers to its customers.

"The customer database and multichannel communications strategy that BellSouth Small Business and Harte-Hanks implemented have enabled BellSouth to connect with first-time customers quickly and provide them with information and offers that are relevant, timely and delivered via the customer’s preferred channel," said Marci Raible, senior director of advertising for BellSouth Small Business.  "Our onboarding program’s ability to generate revenue cost-effectively has improved significantly as a result."
"The results of this effort are a testament to the value of customer-centric marketing,” said Kathy Calta, corporate officer and senior vice president, Harte-Hanks.  "By leveraging customer information effectively into a multichannel, multi-touch onboarding program, BellSouth Small Business achieved a 20% reduction in churn during the first 90 days of the customer lifecycle.  The company now customizes and delivers engaging communications within just a few days of securing a new customer, delivering measurably improved return on investment."

About the National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM)

Co-sponsored by DIRECT magazine and the Direct Marketing Association, the National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) Conference is dedicated exclusively to the database marketing discipline.  NCDM is held once a year and brings marketing and technology decision-makers together to find practical approaches to today’s direct marketing challenges using customer data and technology.

About Harte-Hanks, Inc.

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. Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing improves return on its clients' marketing investment by increasing their prospect and customer value – a process of "customer optimization" –organized around five strategic considerations: Information (data collection/management) — Opportunity (data access/utilization) — Insight (data analysis/interpretation) — Engagement (knowledge application) — Interaction (program execution). Expert in integrating this process, Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing is highly skilled at tailoring solutions for each of the vertical markets it serves.  Visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at http://www.harte-hanks.com or call (800) 456-9748.