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Polk Acquires The Verity Group

16 December 1997

Polk Acquires The Verity Group

        The Combination Gives Polk a Powerful Database Marketing Punch

    DETROIT, Dec. 16 -- Detroit-based Polk announced today it has
acquired The Verity Group Inc., a leading database marketing, research and
data management firm.  This move expands Polk's database marketing, market
research, and data management capabilities in mid- to high-end application
areas.  Verity is a $10 million company, employing 300.  It specializes in the
consumer electronics and personal computer industries and also has clients in
the travel, entertainment, financial services, and computer software
industries.
    Polk purchased 100 percent of the assets of the privately-held company.
The new business will be combined with Polk's Database Marketing Services
(DMS) in a separate business unit called Polk-Verity Database Marketing
Services.  Verity's founder, Bill Matthies will lead the new group as senior
vice president.  He will serve as a member of Polk's leadership team and
reports to Polk's president and chief operating officer, Art Olsen.
    According to Olsen, the acquisition of Verity provides Polk with greater,
high-end application capabilities in the database marketing arena.  It also
adds highly developed market research capabilities, non-subsidized multi-
sourced relational databases, and proven, proprietary data capture
methodologies.
    "Verity significantly enhances Polk's database marketing and product
registration card programs," Olsen said.  "It also expands Polk's well-known
Scout, Pathfinder and Custom Research products.  We will now be able to offer
our customers many more choices for management of their own customer data.
These capabilities can immediately be applied across Polk's large array of
clients.  Essentially, they will be able to choose between our current,
subsidized programs which offer pricing economies in exchange for use of
generic information in Polk's lifestyle lists, and Verity's non-subsidized
programs which offer customers exclusive access to all the data that is
collected.
    "Bill Matthies has built an excellent reputation and staff of key managers
as well as strong client relationships over the last 10 years," said Olsen.
"Consistent with what they call a 'three-legged stool' strategy, Verity
leverages the strengths of database management for customer communications and
target marketing and of market research for industry expertise.  And, their
talented staff can also provide all the strategic, creative and artistic
talent needed by the client to design effective direct marketing campaigns."
    This acquisition firmly establishes Polk in the consumer electronics
industry.  "We now have the resources to claim we are the definitive market
authority in consumer electronics," said Olsen.
    "While we have enjoyed our leadership position in consumer electronics,
joining Polk further expands our ability to represent major consumer
electronics manufacturers and grow in other industry directions," Matthies
said.
    Polk's acknowledged position as statistician to the automotive industry
and its expertise in consumer loyalty behavior and lifestyles and demographics
represent new potential for Verity.  Matthies and Olsen agree that this
combination gives clients the strengthened ability to analyze their
competition, uncover untapped markets, measure customer satisfaction,
determine brand image and awareness, track advertising and increase market
share.
    Polk and Verity have collaborated, competed, exchanged and shared clients
over the years.  "The fact that we've crossed one another's paths so many
times, in so many ways is an indication of the synergy between us and our
capabilities," continued Olsen.  "Anyone we work for will benefit from our
'co-opetition,' which is based on the realization that everything we both do
is designed to support one goal, and that is to help clients sell more of what
they make."
    Polk provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to
companies as a statistician for the motor vehicle industry; a direct marketing
resource; a supplier of demographic and lifestyle data and database marketing
services; a publisher of city directories; and a data enabler for geographic
information systems.  Polk is a privately held firm with facilities around the
world including the United States, Canada, England, Germany and Barbados.
    The Verity Group is based in Fullerton, Calif., near Los Angeles and has a
major data entry facility in Costa Rica.

SOURCE  Polk