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**MSGi Direct to Debut 5.4 Million Name Postal, E-Mail Database

MSGi Direct, New York, said this week a collaborative effort was started between three divisions of MSGi Direct to create its E-mail-Postalink file of more than 5.4 million opt-in postal and e-mail addresses. The E-mail-Postalink file will be available by mid-September.

“The beauty of this file is the combination of postal and e-mail addresses,” said Rick Blume, group vice president of list management at the MSGi Direct division, previously known as Stevens-Knox. “People can do mailings and follow up with an e-mail or vice versa; the possibilities are endless.”

Blume’s division will handle the management of the file.

Robert M. Budlow, senior vice president and general manager of the MSGi Direct division previously known as Metro Direct, New York, said the file, with 5.4 million unique names containing both postal and e-mail addresses, is the largest of its kind.

Budlow’s division will perform the database development and selection fulfillment. MSGi Direct’s Internet marketing subsidiary, WiredEmpire, Burlington, MA, will do the e-mail blasts for mailers renting the e-mail portion of the file.

Another important feature of the file is its guaranteed confirmed opt-in names, Budlow said. The people on the file opted in to receive third-party vendor solicitations and were sent a follow-up e-mail with a link to opt out.

MSGi Direct recently conducted e-mail testing to make sure that the file is truly opt-in. Of the test messages sent, the majority did not bounce back, and hardly any of the recipients opted out, Budlow said.

The file is enhanced with Experian overlays of demographic and lifestyle data, making it highly targetable, Blume said. Some of these selections include age, income, families with children, credit card, book buyers, fundraising responders, outdoor enthusiasts, pet owners, music enthusiasts, collectors and travel enthusiasts.

Updates will occur monthly on the database, and Budlow predicts that 1 million new names will be added to the file each quarter.

Postal addresses will have a base price of $85 per thousand, while e-mail addresses will be $225/M. Selections will have additional charges.

The source of the names cannot be revealed at this time, but Blume said the names are compiled from a number of URLs and include product buyers, subscribers and sweepstakes entrants. He expects that some of the contributors to the file will be named upon its release in about two weeks.

Another function of the file that MSGi Direct is researching is its e-mail enhancement of mailers’ house files, Budlow said.

Although Budlow is not sure how the service may work, it would most likely be similar to data product giant, Acxiom Corp.’s Infobase eMail Enhancement, in that MSGi Direct would send the message to the mailers’ customers on their behalf.

Mailers would submit their postal or e-mail house files to MSGi Direct to be matched against the Postalink database of opted-in names. MSGi would then serve the matched names with a message requesting opt-in permission to merge the name with the mailer’s file.

“Ideally, we’d love to be able to offer the service and clients would love to be able to get it because it’s a win-win,” Budlow said.

However, Blume said, “We’re not going to do this until we’re completely confident that the industry can live with it.”

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