That’s what Rob Salmon (pictured below) says better data management is.

I begin by offering a sincere apology on behalf of my international bureau brothers and sisters. Namely, that there’s no single, standardised, cross-border suppression file available containing deceaseds and gone-aways.

In a perfect world (or, at the very least, one in which genuinely talented Susan Boyle-types don’t finish second to dodgy dance troupes in ‘Britain’s Got Talent’), the suppression gods would be infinitely more benevolent and make such a miracle file available to thee and thine.

What to do in the interim? Well, I suggest we make the most of the considerable expertise that does exist at a national level and carry on nimbly tip-toeing our way through the minefield otherwise known as global data collection and management.

As my colleague, Penelope Cox, wrote in the November 2008 edition of DMI, the legislative terrain governing data usage and distance selling across the UK, EU, North America, Australasia and beyond is growing ever more complicated. So, if you’re one of the 42 per cent of UK organisations (47 per cent in the US), that have a data quality strategy in place, then congratulations – your marcoms probably enjoy healthy response rates. But if you’re among the remaining 58 per cent (UK)/53 per cent (US), then sorry – I have to say it! – shame on you. Given that the average B2C database degrades by 14 per cent each year (35 per cent for B2B), £50 million is spent on misaddressed mail in the UK and an estimated 40 million Americans move house each year (to name but four damning stats), data (mis)management is definitely an issue not to be ignored.

With the threat of opt-in regimes hovering ominously over many territories (19 state legislatures across the United States currently have ‘Do Not Mail’ registries on their agenda, for example), as an industry we’ve certainly got to lift our game. That we’re seeing a shift away from ‘old school’ direct marketing’s volume approach towards more value-based campaign models is definitely a step in the right direction. Why needlessly strafe millions of households when both your brand image and ROI could benefit from better targeting and customer/prospect profiling?

I realise budgets are contracting at unprecedented rates, but I see the months ahead as a real opportunity for bureaux and marketing departments to prove our collective mettle to cash flow-conscious CEOs. How? Better and more intuitive data management, that’s how. Customer and prospect data is a valuable business asset but tending it doesn’t have to be expensive – just removing badly formed addresses from your database can give profit margins an enormous boost. Likewise the data warehousing and analysis services available via bureaux. Ask yourself, ‘How can I get the most return from my data?’ and start from there. The options will pleasantly surprise you and your brand image and customers will thank you.

Rob Salmon is managing director, meta-morphix (www.meta-morphix.com).