For more information, contact:
Ian McCawley
Acxiom Public Relations
00 44 207 526 5209
ian.mccawley@acxiom.com
GACXM
LONDON, UK – 5/8/2011 — Acxiom® Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM), a
recognised leader in marketing services and technology, has been
appointed by Guardian News & Media (GNM) to build a single, global
customer database. The move supports the publisher’s recently announced
move to become a digital-first organisation, designed to place open
journalism on the web at the heart of its strategy and drive deeper
engagement with its audiences.
The multi-year contract that was awarded to Acxiom following a
competitive tender process will encompass all of GNM’s on- and offline
media brands, including The Guardian and The Observer. Acxiom will
create a single, global customer database, bringing together in one
place customer details for each brand. Once built, Acxiom will provide
strategic consulting support, campaign management and reporting on an
ongoing basis.
After the design phase of the database is completed, GNM will
have access to multidimensional data to provide its current and
prospective audiences with more relevant and timely digital content and
offers based on their preferences and behaviour.
The programme is expected to significantly improve audience
experience and bring The Guardian and The Observer closer to their
audiences as the business continues its digital expansion. Acxiom is
combining its own proprietary technology with additional tools and
services from external suppliers to develop and manage the database.
Andre McGarrigle, GNM Customer Insight and Data Strategy
Director, said: “The principle of audience-centricity lies at the heart
of the digital transformation process happening at GNM. Our investment
in this important area is part of an ongoing drive to continuously
improve the relevance and convenience of the content, products and
services we offer our audiences around the world.”
Clare Morgan, Acxiom’s European Director for telco, media and
high-tech, added: “Acxiom is proud to be part of this transformational
project for GNM. Our company is known for providing strategic direction
that delivers insight-driven solutions for our clients leading to true
consumer engagement and personalised brand experiences.”
ENDS
About Acxiom
Acxiom is a recognised leader in marketing services and technology that
enable marketers to successfully manage audiences, personalise consumer
experiences and create profitable customer relationships. Our superior
industry-focused, consultative approach combines consumer data and
analytics, databases, data integration and consulting solutions for
personalised, multichannel marketing strategies. Acxiom leverages over
40 years of experience in data management to deliver high-performance,
highly secure, reliable information management services. Founded in
1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, and serves
clients around the world from locations in the United States, Europe,
Asia-Pacific and South America. For more information about Acxiom, visit
Acxiom.com.
Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation.
About Guardian News & Media
Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes guardian.co.uk, one of the
world's leading news websites, and The Guardian and Observer newspapers.
The Guardian was named Newspaper of the Year at the 2011 British Press
Awards and recently celebrated its
190th birthday.
GNM is the core business of Guardian Media Group (GMG), whose sole
shareholder is the Scott Trust. The Scott Trust exists to secure the
financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity. GMG
has a portfolio of investments, including an investment fund, a majority
share in Auto Trader publisher Trader Media Group and a minority share
in business-to-business media group Emap, which provide financial
stability for the core business.
GNM digital facts:
- In May 2011, guardian.co.uk reached more than 50 million monthly
unique browsers and 2.8 million daily unique browsers globally.
- Latest figures show the Guardian's iPhone app has been
downloaded more than 400,000 times and has generated 67,000 active
subscriptions since January.
- guardian.co.uk has seen access from mobile devices more than double in the last year to reach over 10% of its total traffic.