Linda Harrison:

Thanks Scarlett.

Dina Plath:

Thanks Scarlett.

Scarlett Burks:

Dina, give us a quick snapshot of your background and how someone with a degree in biology came to be at Acxiom and working in data-driven marketing.

Dina Plath:

Yes, of course. So first of all, I’d just like to thank you both for the opportunity and I would love to discuss a little bit about my background. So when I initially majored in biology, I wanted to be a research scientist aiming to specialize in cell mutations. However, I quickly realized that as I was going through my courses and my classes that my main work and my day-to-day activities where isolated in a lab as an individual contributor. While going to school, I was also working full-time at a gym called Bally Total Fitness that I don’t know if you guys have heard of Balley Total Fitness, but it is long gone. It’s retired, it’s been rebranded and all of that, but I have great experience there. So anyway, while I was working there, I was a manager and I really became fond of the day-to-day operations, and I loved the strategic decisions that would impact revenue.

So I looked a little bit into business. I took business classes along with biology and I decided to expand my portfolio. So I decided to pursue my MBA at Wake Forest University. So coupled with my analytical skills and my strategic skills for my MBA, I decided to throw myself into the product world. And so seven years later I’ve had experience in product management and regulatory compliance. Here I am at Acxiom and actually fun fact, yesterday was my one year anniversary. I am so grateful to be here and could not be happier to be part of such a great organization with brilliant data-driven people.

Scarlett Burks:

Happy Acxiom anniversary. That’s great.

Dina Plath:

Thank you. Thank you.

Linda Harrison:

I want to say I also have two brains. So I answer to add in the newspaper of all things kind of shows my age there, but it said I have two brains that I like the analytical side and I like the creative side. So that’s how I came to Acxiom.

Dina Plath:

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I think you never know where the world takes you and when you’re dealing with work experiences and school, I feel like you become a well-rounded person if you take different classes and step out of your comfort zone to do different things. So yeah.

Scarlett Burks:

All right, that’s a perfect segue, Dina. Let’s talk first about college students. Are we talking to parents of college students or the actual students themselves?

Dina Plath:

So you will be talking to the actual students themselves.

Scarlett Burks:

Okay. And I know that Axiom is very conscious of protecting anyone under the age of 18 from marketing. What are the age restrictions for our college students file?

Dina Plath:

Great question, Scarlett. Yes, at Axiom, we absolutely foster an ethical and responsible use of our data. So we ensure that only individuals 18 to 50 years old are on the file.

Scarlett Burks:

All right, and what data is available? So what do we know about those college students?

Dina Plath:

Yeah, so recently I’d definitely like to call out our most recent enhancement that went live last week. And so our file currently right now covers approximately 15 million college bound, in college, non-traditional and recent graduate students. We have also added over 200 data attributes from InfoBase, Audience Propensities and Personicx. These data assets allow brands to build relevant marketing messages and allow to build powerful and meaningful relationships throughout this audience and their life journey.

Scarlett Burks:

So Dina, doesn’t this have where they’re going to school and their major, things like that?

Dina Plath:

Yes. So it has the major, there’s definitely a percentage of the records on the file that have the name of the school. We also have a recent graduate flag that we just recently enhanced and added to the file, which will reflect students that have graduated in the last two years. We also have high school graduation date, graduate school, graduation date, and then obviously our powerful data attributes from spending behavior, buying behaviors, wealth indicators and other personal interest and financial information available on the file.

Scarlett Burks:

And so we can tell who’s that young student leaving home for the first time living on campus versus the non-traditional students who may be older working parents going back to school. Is that true?

Dina Plath:

Yes, correct. We do have a date of birth on the file. So by taking a look at the date of birth on the file, coupled with obviously other indicators on the file, it will tell you our typical or non-traditional students or anybody 25 and over. So that is what’s considered. So our non-traditional students are considered people that are 25 and over, people that also perhaps have a part-time job. So not your typical student that is just entirely focusing on school full-time.

Scarlett Burks:

Okay. And Linda, can you give us an example of an advertiser who has been successful using the college student file?

Linda Harrison:

Absolutely. So I did an email campaign for automotive. There’s a lot of auto offers about graduating college or high school because it’s a big gift that some people can do or you need your first car to drive off into the sunset. So they offer maybe $500 discount for recent graduates of high school or college. So I did an email campaign and we use the college file as one option, so high school graduation or college graduation. And then I also did a predictive audience of people who are likely to have just graduated from college. And then I used a first time buyer, so we had some great segments to look at and compare contrast. We found that this college file, the college student graduation was phenomenally productive, twice the results of our predictive audience, which was still 50% above what we were seeing from first time buyers. So it’s a really good audience.

They perform well. You’ve got what year they’re graduating from college, things like that that can help fine tune it as well as income.

Scarlett Burks:

That’s right. Because both the parents and the students are ready to celebrate at the end of that college experience.

Dina Plath:

Yes.

Scarlett Burks:

The parents because they can quit paying tuition and the kids because finals are over forever.

Dina Plath:

Yes. Yes. My mom was sure happy.

Scarlett Burks:

Oh yeah. Dina, let’s switch gears and talk about a different segment. There is a whole world of baby gear and supplies that didn’t exist 20 years ago for new parents to choose from. So Dina, tell us who is on the new parent file.

Dina Plath:

Yes. So I am quite passionate about the new parents file. This is my first Acxiom product baby that I brought to life from inception to launch. So it was a great project. And so the people that are currently on the file, we have approximately 5.5 million parents who are 18 to 50 years old that have recently became a parent either for the first time or are welcoming additional children into their lives.

Scarlett Burks:

And how is this sourced?

Dina Plath:

So our file is multi-source. By having the ability to have various sources, this allows us to increase coverage and precision by not only compiling them but also comparing them. So our records come from birth announcements, public records, and self-reported surveys from the customer or the parent for this particular situation.

Scarlett Burks:

And how often do we update it and how long are parents on the file?

Dina Plath:

So it is updated on a monthly basis and the parents will roll off the file after two years.

Linda Harrison:

Once a child is two years old, right?

Dina Plath:

Correct. Yes. Yes. So it’s like a 20… When we say 24 months right? And because that’s how it typically goes for babies, right? You say zero to 12 months or zero to 24 months. Yes. So typically it’s 24 months that the parents will roll off.

Linda Harrison:

Now Dina, what I like about this file is how you’ve broken it into age groups so that we can find the right products and opportunities because a lot of things are decided really early in a child’s life like the formula brand or even the diaper brand. You get really tied up with, “Oh, I got to use X,” and then it also has zero to three months, three to six months, et cetera. So I worked with a large toy manufacturer that has building block type things. So a toy that’s good for a newborn is not the same as what you’re going to use for your 18 month old and the size of the toy for a five-year-old is going to be different because you don’t worry about them choking as easily on a DUPLO box or a Lego or something like that.

Dina Plath:

Yes, 100%. We definitely created these H buckets where our customers can get as granular as they want. So you have zero to three months, four to six, seven to nine, 10 to 12, so on until the 24 months and like you called out absolutely marketing or reaching a parent with a two month old, it’s going to be vastly different from the eight month old, right? The two month old, it’s going to need swaddles and baby formula while the eight month old will need a variety of educational toys like you stated and also perhaps maybe learning walkers and stuff like that. So more interactive in the physical aspect.

Scarlett Burks:

Yes, I think Legos are a rite of passage for parenting, as you mentioned, Linda, in varying sizes to match the age, but definitely something I know I had at least 1 million pieces of in my house. All right, so let’s think about another category of life, Dina. Seriously, this one causes deep stress for me, makes my shoulders tense up just to think about it. People who are moving and Acxiom’s pre-mover and new homeowner files. So tell us about those. How is the pre-mover file sourced and how often is it updated?

Dina Plath:

Yes, so our pre-mover file is multi-source and it comes from the public domain of households that have listed their homes for sales. It’s also multi-source and it is updated on a biweekly basis. And the records on the file roll off after three months. We want to make sure that we keep the pre-mover file as fresh as possible so our customers can obtain the freshest data of these people that have just listed their homes for sale. So therefore, that is why we decided on rolling it off every three months so the data could be as fresh as possible during those eager moving phases for parents, which could be pre-summer and during the winter break.

Linda Harrison:

Well, and if you think about most home listings, you list your home with a realtor for like three months. So that’s why that three month, if we haven’t seen a change of address take place, then until we see the record come back again, they’re dropped. But if we see an NCOA on the record, we’re going to drop it as well because they’re no longer pre-moving, they’ve moved.

Dina Plath:

Correct. Yes. And those records… Great call out. Thank you so much, Linda. Those records, you could be a pre-mover one month and then after there’s three months, once you have moved, you will transition into our new homeowners file because you have moved.

Linda Harrison:

Or the new mover if you’re a renter.

Dina Plath:

Yes, correct. Correct. Yes.

Linda Harrison:

Yeah. So what I like about the pre-mover file is this gives an opportunity for different products and services to be sold. In addition to putting your house for sale, you might be thinking about buying a new car. Strangely enough, people buy cars and houses at the same time. I’ve never had that luxury to do both, but people do it all the time. It’s a great time while people are getting their credit together to leverage that. It’s also a time where maybe you need to fix up the house to sell it, you need to paint it, you need to get the yard work done, things like that. So those types of services.

And then there’s also products that are going to be available for you wherever you go. So we have some clients that are satellite dish, right? So if you’re Dish or DirecTV, and you’re going to want to know that the people that have your product are going to be moving. So you can match your customers to the pre-mover file and then say wherever you go, we’re coming with you. Right? Take the dish with you. We make it easy for you to unplug and rehook up at a new location. So it’s not just prospecting. You can also look at your current customers that way to try and remind them that your products and services are available wherever they’re headed next. But in a non-creepy way.

Dina Plath:

Yes, yes. To continue those relationships, right? Continue to just solidify and enhance those relationships throughout the entire journey pre-move, post move, and lifelong hopefully. Right?

Linda Harrison:

Exactly.

Scarlett Burks:

30 million people in the US move every year. So Dina, tell us what types of data we have and what we know about these new homeowners and new movers.

Dina Plath:

So our new homeowners and new movers are both in a different phase of their moving life journey. Pre-movers is the pre-stage of the move and new homeowners and new movers is the post move stage. So our new homeowners file is sourced from our US county recorded offices. And some of the data types that we have on the file are some loan information, transaction types, square footage, presence of pool, and all these additional household information that you may have regarding the property. Our new movers will also have that information, but the biggest difference between our new homeowners and our new movers file is that our new movers file contains people that are renters where our new homeowners file are people that have purchased a new residence.

Linda Harrison:

So that way you can do the best of both worlds right? You can talk to people who we know have bought a home because while my parents fixed up a house that they rented, it’s not ideal. You don’t get your money back on that. So you might need to have construction type things, putting a new kitchen or bath, buy all the home household goods, go to Lowe’s or Home Depot every other day. And then the new movers that are renting have different needs. They might be looking not only at products but services as well. So you might have to change your doctor, you might have to change your bank. All those things happen when you move. And in addition to knowing that they moved, in many cases we know the distance of the move. So we know if they moved in the same zip code, the same SEF, which is the first three digits of the zip code or out of market.

So I moved out of market, I had to get all new things from a hairdresser to a bank to dentist, everything. But if I just moved across town, it’s not as big of a deal, though I might still need all the products, new rugs, new appliances, things like that.

Scarlett Burks:

So flip a switch here a little bit, Linda, and talk about Acxiom’s consumer segmentation system Personicx. It is also built around life-stages. So tell us the difference in how marketers use a milestone audience versus how they apply Personicx Lifestage to their marketing strategy.

Linda Harrison:

Well, we’ve talked about these milestones. These are really major events that are taking place. You’re having a child, you’re moving, you’re fixing to move, which is what I lovingly call the pre-mover file or you’re going off to college. Those are really major events. Personicx Lifestage takes into account what stage of life are you in. Are you early in your career? Are you middle age and settling down, having a family? Are you an empty nester? Are you a senior? So some of the products and services that we buy are generational. Think of what you buy versus your 18 year old children versus your grandparents. Just some of the things that we’re interested in. And then if you own a home, if you’re married. So I love to say I don’t go on as many singles cruises now that I’m married. The husband doesn’t like that.

Things like that change just from certain life events that are also life-stage related. What you buy in the grocery store for your toddler to make them quiet down in the grocery store line is different than what you’re doing to get your 18 year old. You’re buying them a whole bunch more food, gallons of milk, whatever it is to make them be quiet.

Scarlett Burks:

Which only works with varying success, I much say when they’re 18, but all right, so Personicx really helps us deliver more relevant messaging to those different groups.

Linda Harrison:

Relevant messaging, imaging, things like that, creative.

Scarlett Burks:

Creative as well. Yeah, very good point. So for our listeners, we have a fun way to select your own characteristics and see what Personicx cluster you’re in. So we will link to the What’s My Cluster page on acxiom.com in the show notes. So be sure to check that out. All right, and as our final wrap up question for everyone today, who is a favorite influencer you follow either for business or personal interests? Dina, we’ll start with you.

Dina Plath:

All right, thank you. That’s a little bit of a hard one. I feel like there’s so many amazing influential people in the world right now. If I had to pick one and I would think I would be Gary V. Do you guys know I’m sure who Gary V. is? No, I cannot pronounce his last name so I won’t even try because it’s very difficult. But he is an entrepreneur. He grew up in Queens, so I followed him. I grew up in Queens, New York, so I followed him throughout my college, graduate school and just life journey. And what I really like about him most is not only that he’s very motivated and self-driven, but his charisma and his compassion towards people and the people that work for him. And he’s just brilliant. So I think all around he’s inspirational and I’ll be sure to send you guys a little information on him so you can check him out because I think you would like his content.

Scarlett Burks:

Awesome. Awesome. Linda, how about you?

Linda Harrison:

Okay. I think if our listeners have been paying attention, I love to cook. So I follow somebody called the Anti-Chef and he does this… his name is Jamie and he goes through Julia Child’s cookbooks and it’s called Jamie and Julia. And he’ll do one of Julia Child’s recipes and sometimes they turn out wonderfully and sometimes he gets really annoyed because her instructions are not really complete or it fails and he throws it away. But it’s always fun to watch him make something from Julia Child.

Scarlett Burks:

Oh, that’s great.

Dina Plath:

That’s awesome. I love to cook. So Linda, please send this to me because I’m always looking for new recipes, new ideas. I was taught to just put stuff together and taste it as you go and it tastes great. But I do enjoy following a recipe.

Scarlett Burks:

So we’ll be sure to include links to both of those in the show notes as well.

Linda Harrison:

What about you Scarlett?

Scarlett Burks:

So for me, it’s actually a couple of podcasters that I follow. They’re just moms in their fifties who like to talk about football and everyday life stuff, but their key characteristic is they make me laugh. So it’s a really good stress relief at the end of a workday to go take a walk and listen to them. All right, well thank you so much Dina and Linda for today’s conversation. To our listeners, you can find all our Data Guru Podcast episodes on your favorite podcast player or at acxiom.com. Thanks for joining us.