Core strategic asset or just a tactical tool: How UK companies view the value of their customer databases

The paper describes a research project commissioned by the Institute of Direct Marketing and undertaken by the University of Strathclyde School of Marketing that investigated the value that organisations place on their customer databases. While the research clearly identified the importance of the customer database as a revenue generator, the results also demonstrate that in many organisations the full potential is not being realised, particularly in developing and supporting corporate strategy. From the detailed findings the research team have developed two frameworks or models which organisations can use firstly to assist them in maximising the value to the overall business of their databases and secondly to assess methods for establishing directly or indirectly the value of the database as a corporate asset. The findings also establish the factors which organisations in the survey felt were inhibiting them from developing the full potential of their databases.