Melissa Data In the News Melissa Data Cleans Co-Registration Data for Connectify Networks - March 2006 "DM Review" REVIEWER: Scott D. Perkins, VP of Operations, Connectify Networks, Inc. BACKGROUND: Connectify Networks is a full service digital media company specializing in creating and implementing permission-based direct marketing campaigns. Connectify’s customer acquisition and conversion solutions allow advertisers to develop relationships with those who have expressed interest in their products and services. For advertisers, Connectify provides a low risk and cost-efficient means for communicating with targeted, relevant online audiences. Leveraging Connectify’s pay for performance model, advertisers only pay for transactions that are generated by consumers. In the era of CAN-SPAM, Do-Not-Call and Do-not email lists, advertisers need to be in strict compliance. Our solutions provide advertisers with the opportunity to communicate with consumers who have given their consent. We obtain permission on behalf of the advertisers to initiate the relationship, thus delivering a qualified, engaged prospect. PLATFORMS: The platforms we run on are: Dell Intel Xeon systems running RedHat Linux, Oracle9i, and Windows Advanced Server 2003 PROBLEM SOLVED: Connectify enables Web publishers with technology to generate supplementary revenue from the new user registration paths of their respective sites. Relevant offers from our client marketers are displayed within the registration areas of our Network Partners. New registrants have the opportunity to accept any of these offers and upon doing so, that Web site generates immediate revenue. This revenue-generation opportunity is known as Co-Registration, and ConnectDirect is the technology we use to deliver these client offers into the appropriate registration areas. As part of this program, Connectify must perform “data hygiene” on the registrant data that it receives from the Network Partners. Among the more important fields to verify for certain campaigns are postal address-related. Connectify partnered with industry-leading Melissa Data for a postal address solution that it could rely on, and they brought us Data Quality Web Service (DQWS). We have been using DQWS for over two years, and have been very impressed with both the performance and the stability of the service. PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY: In our business, the more registration data that we filter as bad or incorrect, the less revenue we are able to generate. With DQWS, we are able to keep postal address false negatives to a minimum, and the higher our verification rate, the more revenue we can generate for our network partners. STRENGTHS: Stability (uptime) and performance. Melissa Data has a flexible way of doing business – the technology works as expected, transparently and trouble free. Their solutions can be easily incorporated into the workflow. We designed our system around our workflow rather than designing the workflow around the system. Connectify’s business model demands that high-quality data is delivered to our clients and network partners in a timely fashion. Melissa Data has emerged as a trusted partner in that critical process. WEAKNESSES: With Co-Registration now taking off with European and Asian publishers, the need for postal verification solutions for developed countries is growing. Connectify looks forward to Melissa Data’s consideration of these important markets. SELECTION CRITERIA: After reviewing four other postal verification providers, Connectify chose Melissa Data for its personal service, technical ability, value pricing and overall product performance. DELIVERABLES: Although Connectify doesn’t use the Melissa Data reporting tools directly, the response codes that ConnectDirect receives from DQWS allows our systems to generate reports that we provide to both our internal staff and our network partners. VENDOR SUPPORT: We’ve always had a good relationship with Melissa Data. When technical problems arise, their solutions team is always quick to communicate a solution path to us. With many aspects of the data hygiene process to manage, it is great knowing that we can rely on Melissa Data to deliver on their part. DOCUMENTATION: The documentation is easy to understand, and there are no aspects of the system that the documentation doesn’t address. Melissa Data provides a documentation manual, a quick start guide and free unlimited telephone tech support if needed. Ample sample code is also available.