Banta and Geoscape Combine Strengths to Give Direct Marketers Competitive Edge with Hispanic Customers
Tuesday, 04 April 2006
Banta Corporation has announced a strategic alliance with Geoscape International to enable direct marketers to more effectively reach the fast-growing Hispanic market in the US. Banta, based in Menasha, WI, made the announcement at the DMA Directo Days conference in New York City.
Banta’s direct marketing customers will now benefit from Geoscape’s DirecTarget approach, which identifies specific types of multicultural consumers—individuals, households and businesses, with specific expertise in reaching Hispanic audiences. DirecTarget also allows companies to refine their own databases to more accurately meet specific marketing and sales objectives.
James M. Cyze, president of Banta Direct Marketing Group, said the strategic alliance with Geoscape will ensure that direct marketers’ messages are in the appropriate language and cultural context, as well as relevant to US Hispanics based on their level of acculturation and other key social and economic characteristics.
“Our alliance with Geoscape will allow our customers to do their own business faster, easier and more profitably,” Cyze said. “Everybody wins, especially consumers who are getting the messages most appropriate for them – and who are not getting information they don’t want.”
“Latinos do not constitute a single market,” Cyze said. “Growth in multicultural populations in the US is staggering, and successful marketers must know how to address specific segments and not treat them as one group. At Banta, we know that accurate customer profiles will determine the success or failure of a direct marketing campaign. Now our customers will have the benefit of Banta’s world-class execution capabilities combined with Geoscape’s quality data. The result will be stronger relationships with our clients and their customers in the Hispanic community.”
In addition to Latinos, Geoscape’s databases include Asian-American and African-American consumers.
Gustavo A. Gruber, business development manager of Banta’s Direct Marketing Group, explained, “Latinos arrived in this country at different times and for different reasons, creating a market with a broad range of needs, cultural histories and language preferences. This market will only continue to grow, in both numbers and complexity.
“For example, by 2050, Latinos will account for 24 percent of the US population,” Gruber continued. “This growth presents tremendous opportunities for our customers to more successfully reach these populations to increase sales.”
Specifically, Banta customers will have access to Geoscape’s HomeBase database, which includes approximately 215 million individuals and 110 million households, and BizBase, which has detailed data on 18 million US businesses and contacts. Both of these databases can be segmented as narrowly as a business needs.
For example, businesses now can target Hispanic customers who prefer English versus those who prefer Spanish. The BizBase data can be segmented according to type and location of business – for example, in-home versus a store – as well as by characteristics of the principals, including gender and ethnicity.
“At Geoscape, we understand the complexities of reaching the right people with the right message, and that is even more critical when you need to reach a multicultural audience,” said Cesar Melgoza, president, Geoscape International. “Banta is a premier direct marketing partner, and it makes good business sense for us to offer our unique capabilities through such an alliance. Now our premier customer-segmentation capabilities are available to direct marketers who want one-stop shopping.”
Banta Direct Marketing Group helps its customers execute highly targeted and complex marketing campaigns requiring high levels of personalization and customization. Customers include general and direct marketing agencies, financial services companies, retailers, consumer packaged goods companies and a wide range of direct marketers seeking to build loyal, profitable customer relationships.