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Polk Dealer Marketing Manager Introduced

5 May 1999

Polk Dealer Marketing Manager Introduced

    Online Desktop Marketing Tool Created Specifically for In-house Use by
                              Automotive Dealers

    DETROIT, May 5 -- Responding to automotive dealer requests
for a comprehensive, in-house marketing tool, The Polk Company today
introduced its Polk Dealer Marketing Manager product.
    The Polk Dealer Marketing Manager is a marketing database system designed
to help dealers gain a better understanding of their current customers and
find more customers like them.  It collects customer data electronically from
the dealers' management system, cleanses those records for accuracy, and
combines them with Polk's consumer demographics, lifestyles and modeling
information to create a valuable customer contact and prospecting tool.  The
resulting database is secured for dealer use only and can be accessed online
from dealers' desktops.
    "Our goal was to create the type of marketing product dealers have been
asking for," said Bill Barrett, Polk's managing director of transportation
information services, dealer and regional programs.  "Based on our research,
dealers today are facing information overload.  The Polk Dealer Marketing
Manager provides an easy-to-use, turnkey solution that allows dealers to
effectively and efficiently manage their marketing programs."
    Polk's new system allows dealers to implement one-to-one marketing
programs without incurring the costs of additional staffing or expertise.  It
also provides dealers with high-quality prospecting data, enabling them to
target current or potential customers who are likely to purchase a vehicle
within the next three months, determine their brand loyalties, and effectively
predict the vehicle type they are most likely to purchase.
    "By appending Polk's Auto Purchase Predictor and loyalty coding to a
dealer's customer database, we are providing dealers with a powerful tool,"
said Barrett.  "Not only will they be able to create targeted marketing
campaigns, but they will also have the option of initiating campaigns at
different levels -- from basic to highly complex."
    The Polk Dealer Marketing Manager comprises three marketing modules, each
featuring a different level of complexity:  Quick Targeting, Build Your Own
and Market Discovery.
    *  Quick Targeting provides dealers with a basic point-and-click solution
designed for easy use.  It allows them to target current customers and
prospects who are most likely to buy a specific vehicle;
    *  Build Your Own is a custom query option that dealers can use to target
current and prospective customer groups based on their specific needs; and
    *  Market Discovery allows dealers to analyze their current market at a
deeper level, providing a more detailed look at their current customer base.
The system also provides dealers with a street map indicating the local areas
generating most of their business, which tells them where their marketing
dollars are best spent.

    "Dealers continue to increase their advertising spending, but what are
they getting in return?" Barrett said.  "We believe the Polk Dealer Marketing
Manager will help dealers get more return on their investment through a better
understanding and targeting of their customers and prospects."
    Polk provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to
companies as a statistician for the motor vehicle industry; as a direct-
marketing resource; as a supplier of demographic and lifestyle data and
database-marketing services; as a publisher of city directories; and as a data
enabler for geographic information systems.  Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk
is a privately held firm founded in 1870 that is expanding globally, currently
operating in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia,
Spain, Holland and Costa Rica.