More Effective Marketing with Data Mining at Bell Atlantic
The telecommunications market is often called the new frontier, and the battle for a share of this market is fierce. Providers of telephone, cable, wireless access, and information technology are constantly searching for a competitive edge that will allow them to build market share and increase revenues.
Bell Atlantic, a provider of telecommunications and cellular services in the northeastern United States, has survived and prospered despite intense competition and a string of mergers by other industry giants. Based in New York City, Bell Atlantic is one of the oldest telephone networks in the United States and is one of the original seven regional Bell Operating companies. Since that time, Bell Atlantic has become a global company with major international operations and investments throughout Europe and Asia.
Bell Atlantic's growth and competitive strategy would not have been possible without the strong marketing and information technology focus it started in 1988. In that year, the company began building a data warehouse, including information about customers, demographics, revenue, and product offerings. Mountains of data accumulated, and information about that data, needed to be readily accessible for marketing analysis.
Carl Fiore, managing director of Bell Atlantic's Marketing Information Systems division, said: "We wanted to empower every user to access the data warehouse from their desktops and to use the information to make accurate and strategic marketing decisions."
To achieve these goals, Bell Atlantic used data mining and created a suite of applications that enables users without programming experience to access the company's 400 gigabyte data warehouse. Bell Atlantic's analysts have created over 400 applications and have successfully placed these capabilities on the desktop. Bell Atlantic is now launching the next evolution of the project, expanding their users across a WAN.
Using the unique combination of data-mining tools and Bell Atlantic applications, 350 users, including 50 to 75 active users, have more time to evaluate and analyze information. "By spending less time ploughing through data, users can improve target marketing and customer segmentation while using fewer resources and increasing revenues," said Fiore. These tools allow us to merge demographic cluster information with customer information to develop precise segments and buying patterns.
Bell Atlantic is now in the process of upgrading its data mining applications. Providing TCP/IP connectivity, the new applications enable Bell Atlantic to link all of its major marketing locations across New York State. In addition, Bell Atlantic is deploying Lotus Notes, enabling users to launch data mining applications from their desktops.
"Data mining technology has enabled Bell Atlantic to accurately target the most lucrative direct mail markets and to precisely tailor the sales messages that will produce the maximum impact in these markets," said Fiore. "The bottom line is that we spend less money and get better results."
Bell Atlantic will continue to gain a competitive advantage by utilizing its growing suite of data mining applications, connected through Lotus Notes, to go beyond conventional marketing. Fiore said: "By providing access to data, we have empowered our marketing departments to make faster, better, and easier decisions.