2014

INFOBASE CONSUMER
ENHANCEMENT
COMPARISON STUDY
ACXIOM AGAIN LEADS ALL OTHER
CONSUMER DATA PROVIDERS ON CORE
DEMOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Companies rely on Acxiom data to drive response
and improve ROI by providing answers to their key
marketing questions. To maintain this trust, Acxiom
conducts a rigorous consumer data quality study
every other year against four major competitors
Epsilon, Experian, Infogroup and KBM Group.
The focus of this study is to rank data providers in
four major areas: coverage, accuracy, Balanced
Data Score and Goodness of Fit. Coverage,
accuracy and distribution are all important metrics
individually, but combined they create a more
powerful measurement of data quality.
Data is the foundation for successful and profitable
marketing programs. Choosing the right data
provider can mean doubling response to an
email campaign or generating a double-digit
ROI increase on a mobile campaign. Thats why
Fortune 500 companies have trusted Acxiom for
more than 40 years to deliver the results they need.
KEY FINDINGS Acxioms InfoBase Consumer Enhancement ranks first in the Balanced
Data Score (coverage x accuracy), retaining the top position as we have
during many years of benchmarking. Measuring coverage and accuracy in
combination provides a single metric for evaluation by measuring accuracy
based on the degree of coverage.

Acxiom has a higher match rate to individual data than any source, and
our overall match rate is the highest in the industry.

Acxiom continues to dominate coverage with core demographics, which

are the building blocks of an expanded data offering.

All data providers are very tightly clustered on average accuracy

measures. Accuracy rankings show Acxiom with the highest match rates,
but slightly lower in accuracy than those sources with lower match rates.

Acxioms demographic attributes are well balanced and more closely

aligned with national norms than any other data provider.

BOTTOM LINE: Acxiom remains the industry-leading supplier of demographic

data for your marketing needs. The proof is in the following pages.

METHODOLOGY Acxiom assembled a broad 50,000-record truth file from recent syndicated survey responses
to use as the standard for accuracy and distribution. The data for comparison was acquired from
four traditional consumer data providers: Experian, Epsilon, KBM Group and Infogroup.

Acxiom statistical analysts then conducted a sophisticated comparison of 12 core demographic

variables. Competitors were evaluated based on coverage, accuracy, Goodness of Fit (or
distribution) and Balanced Data Score, which is a more meaningful metric of data quality than
measuring coverage or accuracy alone. Overall data quality is measured by combining the
individual metrics of coverage, accuracy and distribution.

More detailed information about the testing methodology is available upon request.

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BALANCED The Balanced Data Score is the main summary metric in the study. It is significant because it
DATA SCORE embodies accuracy and coverage together. It is simply the data accuracy percentage multiplied
by the coverage percentage. For example, 90 percent accuracy and 50 percent coverage
provides accurate values of 45 percent of the input records. Its a simple yet comprehensive
metric to compare data quality across competitors.

The chart below shows the Balanced Data Score of all the major consumer data providers.
A balanced data score was calculated for attributes common across all data providers. Then
an overall average was derived for each data provider. The table below is an index that was
calculated by comparing the data providers scores to an overall average. Higher scores indicate
the ability to provide a greater number of accurate values.

BALANCED DATA SCORE INDEX

120
110

101 103
100 96 AVERAGE
90

80

60

40

20

0
ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

ATTRIBUTE The Attribute Ranking Detail compares the Balanced Data Scores at the element level, such as
RANKING education, home market value, income and others to create an overall ranking. For each attribute, a
DETAIL rank of 1 (highest) through 5 is assigned based on the Balanced Data Score. If two data providers
are very close in performance, each is assigned the same ranking. An average rank was then
calculated for each data provider. Acxioms average rank of 1.9 was the best of all data providers.

ATTRIBUTE RANKING DETAIL BALANCED DATA SCORE

BALANCED DATA SCORE RANK ORDER

ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D
ELEMENT
Number of Adults 2 1 3 4 4
Acxiom ranks rst in Balanced Household Size 3 1 2 5 4
Data Score. Education 2 2 4 5 1
Home Market Value 1 5 4 3 2
Home Owner/Renter 1 2 5 3 4
Acxiom has the largest number
Estimated Household Income 1 1 1 4 5
of accurate data points.
Length of Residence 1 4 1 5 3
Gender (Input Individual) 2 4 1 3 5
Age (Input Individual) 1 5 2 3 4
Demographic data continues to
be a strength for Acxiom. Marital Status 2 1 4 5 3
Child Age Ranges 2 4 4 1 3
Number of Children 4 2 1 5 3
No single provider is Presence of Children 3 2 1 5 4
dominating childrens data. ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D
AVERAGE 1.9 2.6 2.5 3.9 3.5
RANK 1 3 2 5 4

* Note: If the Balanced Data Scores between two data providers were very close, both providers received the same rank. 3
MATCH RATE Acxiom maintains the highest individual-level match rate among those evaluated.In addition to high
COMPARISON match rates for specific attributes, Acxiom maintains the highest overall match rate to individual
level data points. This fulfills the need for data to drive consumer-specific not household-specific
marketing, providing marketers a genuine competitive advantage. InfoBase offers higher
coverage for consumer-specific age, education, occupation and political party data.

MATCH RATE COMPARISON

ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

Level of Match
Individual 84.5% 80.5% 72.3%
Household 4.2% 76.2% 7.8% 8.0%
Address 19.1%
Area (ZIP4 or ZIP) 11.3% 11.7%
Overall MR 100.0% 95.3% 100.0% 80.3% 85.0%

COVERAGE The coverage rate for each attribute was calculated by dividing the total number of valid data
points by the number of records. Using the data attributes common to all providers, an average
coverage rate was created. Each data provider was then compared to the overall average
coverage rate to create an index. This index illustrates the relative coverage of each data provider.

COVERAGE INDEX

120
114
108
104
100 AVERAGE
92
82
80

60

40

20

0
ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

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ACCURACY Accuracy is defined as the number of correct data points divided by the total number of valid
values. Attributes that have invalid (or missing) data were excluded. Acxiom has purposefully
created high coverage elements to benefit our clients, thus giving up a slight edge on accuracy
as illustrated in the chart below.

ACCURACY INDEX
120

106 102
99
100 97 AVERAGE
95

80

60

40

20

0
ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

ACCURATE Along with accuracy rate, the total number of accurate data points for each data provider was
DATA POINTS calculated. Prior to counting the accurate values, a common set of data attributes was identified.
The number of accurate data points was then counted for each attribute, and this number was
summed across the common attributes. Numbers in this table appear large due to the use of
sampling weights to remove the bias in the truth data. As the chart illustrates, Acxiom provided
the largest number of accurate data points across all data providers.

TOTAL NUMBER OF ACCURATE DATA POINTS

950,000,000
900,000,000
850,000,000
800,000,000
750,000,000
700,000,000
650,000,000
600,000,000
550,000,000
500,000,000
ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

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GOODNESS Goodness of Fit refers to how close a data providers distribution for a given element fits
OF FIT the distribution reported by the 2010 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census. The
goodness of fit metric was created by summing the squared differences (the distance between
the data provider distribution and the census distribution lines). Common preference is for
demographic data to look like the Census as much as possible. This metric helps marketers
select audiences that most closely represent the U.S. population of marketable consumers.

WHAT IS GOODNESS OF FIT?

EXAMPLE NUMBER OF ADULTS DISTRIBUTION

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 Adult 2 Adults 3 Adults 4 Adults 5+ Adults

Good Fit Bad Fit Census

GOODNESS This index shows Acxioms fit exceeds the closest competitor by 40 percent. Out of 11 elements
OF FIT INDEX measured for Goodness of Fit, Acxiom had eight elements identified as outstanding.

GOODNESS OF FIT INDEX

160 155
140
120 115
100
88 87
80
60 56
40
20
0
ACXIOM Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C Vendor D

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IN SUMMARY In keeping with previous studies, Acxiom continues to delivers the most effective balance of
coverage and accuracy. This balance is essential to generate the high quality consumer data
necessary to drive successful marketing decisions.

The following chart shows that Acxiom prevails in three of four categories and all vendors
performed similarly on the fourth. Acxioms InfoBase Consumer Enhancement delivers
consistent, high-quality data year after year.

2014 COMPETITIVE STUDY OVERALL STANDINGS

170
Coverage
150
130 Accuracy

110 Balanced Data Score

90
Goodness of Fit
70
50
ACXIOM
Vendor A
Vendor B
Vendor C
Vendor D

WHY QUALITY But what does all this mean to marketers? Simple. When all is said and done, an organizations
MATTERS marketing ROI is wholly dependent on both the quality of the data and the quality of the
analytics used to define its audiences.

WHAT MAKES Acxioms commitment to a rigorous compliance and privacy-based data acquisition
ACXIOM combined with proprietary hygiene and matching and carefully honed business rules allow
DIFFERENT us to apply the best answer or data attribute to a consumer record.
Perhaps more important than the validated results of this study is the use of these core
data components in the creation of many of Acxioms newer offerings, like the Audience
Operating System and Audience Propensities. These solutions create distinction, growth
opportunities and a method to propel traditional offerings forward to meet the future
demands of digital-based advertisers.
The introduction of www.AboutTheData.com gives consumers an unprecedented level
of visibility and choice about data and advertising preferences so they can enjoy better
experiences and receive greater value when engaging with brands.

FIND OUT MORE Contact info@acxiom.com to schedule for a more detailed discussion of the 2014 InfoBase
Consumer Enhancement Comparison Study results and the ROI implications for your
organization. An InfoBase product specialist is available to walk you through campaign examples
for some of the most common marketing channels online, television, email, direct mail and
mobile. In addition, the specialist can also assist in applying the metrics to your own situation.

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 WANT TO KNOW MORE?
To find out how Acxiom can help
your business, visit acxiom.com
or call us at 888.3acxiom.

AC-0250-14 6/14

601 E. Third Street, P.O. Box 8190

Little Rock, AR 72203-8190
acxiom.com
888.3acxiom

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