Housing Market Deflation Correlates With Zip Code Forensics

Don Libey forwards us this map of the United States as illustrated in the NY Times (see via this link, related article here), illustrating states with high "debt to value" ratios.

His question ... does this data correlate with Zip Code Forensics?

The answer ... yes.

We can match state-level data to the zip-level data in Zip Code Forensics. Statisticians would point out the flaws associated with doing this. Point taken.


Catalog Crazies, the most productive zip codes in the United States, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 63.0%.

Online Bliss, among the most productive zip codes in the United States, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 63.5%.

Catalog Fans, zip codes with average productivity, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 63.8%.

Online Spend, zip codes with average productivity, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 66.2% (oh oh, a trend is beginning).

Catalog Preference, zip codes that perform well below average, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 67.8%.

Online Preference, zip codes that perform well below average, have an average debt-to-value ratio of 69.0%.

In other words, Zip Code Forensics identifies regions that have customers who, on average, have an additional four to six percent equity in their homes. These customers are less impacted by the mortgage/housing crisis, and therefore, have more money to spend on other things.

And you can have access to this data for free! Contribute your anonymous annual sales data by zip code by channel to the database, and you'll receive this segmentation system. If you do not wish to contribute your data, the cost for an annual license is $5,000.

Download the paper to learn more.

An E-Commerce Hotbed: Washington, D.C.

Suburban and Exurban Washington, D.C. is an e-commerce hotbed.

The dark green colors on the map illustrate a segment called "Online Bliss", customers who love e-commerce, customers who spend almost double the national average, per-capita.

In a down market, these are customers you want to rely upon!!

This market illustrates classic patterns --- with weak performance in urban areas, strong e-commerce performance in suburban and exurban areas, and strong traditional direct marketing performance (catalog) in exurban and rural areas.

All of this information can be available to you, for free! FREE!

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics is free to brands who contribute anonymous, annual sales at a zip code level by physical channel (phone, online, retail). Show me a list of vendors who are willing to help out, for free?

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics costs $5,000 per year for folks who want access to the segments, but are not willing to contribute anonymous, annual sales data.

Zip Code Forensics: The Southwest United States

If you're a multichannel marketer based in New England, you probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about customer behavior in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (free to marketers who contribute anonymous zip code data, $5,000 for all other marketers --- compare to Claritas Prizm NE here) has a favorable view of the Southwest United States.

Multichannel evangelists suggest that direct marketing works well among customers who have access to retail.

Zip Models suggest otherwise. Notice that the bright orange (traditional direct marketing / catalog) and bright green (online marketing / e-commerce) areas are largely outside of urban areas, away from concentrated retail strongholds.

Honestly, folks, we've been led astray by mainstream multichannel "best practices" thinking. We survey a thousand customers who buy across channels, those customers tell us that they love multiple channels, then we tell retailers we should pursue these customers via $379 research reports and vendor white papers. Who benefits from this form of marketing? You know the answer.


We have an opportunity to think more about what a customer "needs", thinking less about what we want to "give" to a customer. What does the customer living fifty minutes outside of Flagstaff "need"? Does our industry explore this angle? Have you read a research report on the needs of the rural mountain customer in the Southwest United States?

Unlikely.

Final Pricing Strategy For Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

I received your feedback about Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics, arriving at a final pricing strategy for the cutting-edge direct marketing zip code model segmentation strategy.

Beta Clients: Free, plus your own customized zip marketing model. Not too bad, eh?

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: Free to those who contribute anonymous sales by zip code. Did you read that correctly? Yes you did! Free! FREE!

If you do not wish to contribute anonymous sales by zip code, the cost is $5,000 per year, a price that is dramatically cheaper than what you'll pay for PRIZM clusters/segments available from Claritas!

Did I mention that if you elect to contribute anonymous sales data by channel by zip code, you receive the product for free? Show me anybody else in the industry who is trying to help you through a challenging economic environment by offering something of significant value ... for free?

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics offer six segments that span all zip codes in the United States.

• Catalog Crazies: Zip Codes that have customers who crave catalog marketing and spend twice as much as the average zip code.

• Online Bliss: These folks are all about e-commerce --- spending nearly twice as much as the average zip code.

• Catalog Fans: Average performing zip codes with customers who like catalog marketing.

• Online Spend: Average performing zip codes comprised of consumers who prefer e-commerce.

• Catalog Preference: Urban and rural zip codes with customers who only spend 1/3 of the national average, skewing toward catalog marketing.

• Online Preference: Urban and rural zip codes with customers who only spend 1/3 of the national average, skewing toward e-commerce.

Based on results obtained from folks participating in the beta test of the product, e-mail marketers, direct marketers, and catalog marketers may experience profit increases when applying Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics to lapsed customers (those who haven't purchased in more than a year) as well as prospect lists.

The chart at the end of this post illustrates the average improvement in performance across lapsed customers, if customers in the top two segments (catalog crazies and online bliss) are targeted.

If you are interested in participating, please contact me for instructions on obtaining the free version, or to purchase the $5,000 version without providing your anonymous sales totals by zip code by channel.

Northern California Coast: More Catalog Crazies

Another place where catalog marketing matters is along Highway 101, from north of San Francisco, into Southern Oregon.

In this region, customers are not offered the variety of retail brands available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Diego. The lifestyle is different, more relaxed.

Again, when marketing to existing customers, we have enough information to infer channel preference. But when marketing to prospects, we can utilize Zip Code Forensics or internal zip models to improve our chances.

Cape Cod: Home Of Catalog Crazies

Just a few hours south of Boston, we find a quaint little world known as Cape Cod.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics suggest that this corner of the world is home to some of the most productive catalog customers in the United States. With limited retail options and a less hectic lifestyle, catalog marketing is perfectly suited to individuals who choose to live in this area.

This is our opportunity. We identify areas where customers have specific marketing preferences, then we capitalize on those areas. When we have actual customer data, we leverage that. When we are mining prospects, we use Zip Code Forensics or internally built zip models to improve productivity.

Dallas / Ft. Worth

So often, we see trends that repeat across metropolitan areas. Such is the case with the Dallas / Ft. Worth market.

North of each city is where the responsive customers reside. These customers clearly prefer the online channel.

Go well north of either city, or well west of Ft. Worth, and you see customers who like to talk to somebody over the phone when ordering merchandise.

We repeatedly observe trends not often talked about in the multichannel literature.

• Retail is an urban/suburban phenomenon.
• Online is a suburban/exurban phenomenon.
• Cataloging is an exurban/rural phenomenon.
  

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: Baltimore And Washington, D.C.

Another fun map for your weekend viewing pleasure!

Notice all of the dark green to the west of Washington --- an e-commerce hotbed. Then notice the dark orange in rural areas. We see this all of the time when viewing metropolitan areas.

For a White Paper on Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics, download here.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: Cincinnati & Columbus

During upcoming weekends, we will take a look at key markets across the United States via Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics.

Today, we focus on Cincinnati and Columbus.

Dark orange zip codes are "Catalog Crazies". These folks love catalog marketing, spending twice as much per capita as do customers in average zip codes.

Dark green zip codes are "Online Bliss". These folks love e-commerce, spending nearly twice as much per capita as do customers in average zip codes.

Light orange (catalog fans) and light green (online spend) are average performing zip codes.

Yellowish (catalog preference) and very light green (online preference) spend about one-third as much, per capita, as do the average zip code.

Zip Code Marketing: Claritas PRIZM and Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Some of you are wondering about the differences between Claritas PRIZM Clusters/Segments and Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics. Here's a quick comparison of the differences.

Claritas PRIZM Clusters/Segments: Each zip code (or zip+4) is categorized into one of more than sixty different lifestyle segments. Each segment is given a clever name, describing the type of person who lives in that segment. Demographic studies, surveys, and data are compiled to create a profile of the type of person who lives in that segment. The segments are well defined, and help the user understand "who" lives in a particular area --- you hear the segment name "Shotguns And Pickups", and you have an immediate image of the demographic of that area. This segmentation scheme can be used to improve direct marketing activities, as each brand is likely to align with customers who spend a lot, and live in specific segments. The cost of using PRIZM clusters is reasonably expensive, though marketers can gain an acceptable ROI.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: Each zip code (not at a zip+4 level) is categorized into one of six different performance and channel preference segments, similar to traditional zip code models used in zip code marketing programs.

• Catalog Crazies: Highly productive zip codes that prefer traditional direct marketing.
• Online Bliss: Highly productive zip codes that prefer e-commerce and online community.
• Catalog Fans: Average zip codes with a traditional direct marketing preference.
• Online Spend: Average zip codes that lean toward e-commerce.
• Catalog Preference: Zip codes with customers who do not spend much money on direct marketing, but do prefer traditional direct marketing (i.e. catalogs).
• Online Preference: Zip codes with customers who do not spend much money on direct marketing, skewing toward e-commerce if they buy something.

The direct marketer will use Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics to target geographies that have higher-spending customers --- especially when the direct marketer is looking at marketing activities that perform at or below break-even levels.

The direct marketer can expect to reduce marketing expense by about seventy percent by targeting only Catalog Crazies and Online Bliss zip codes --- while improving sales performance by about ten percent, yielding a significant increase in profitability.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics is based on anonymous sales data by channel, at a zip code level, from leading catalog brands across the United States. Mathematical Algorithms and Census Data combine to yield the six segments mentioned earlier in this post.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics is FREE (yes, I said FREE!) to customers who contribute anonymous, annual sales data by channel by zip code, with free quarterly updates as catalogers continue to add their sales data to the algorithm. For marketers using the segmentation scheme across at least 200,000 in annual marginal catalog circulation, it is expected that a positive ROI will be achieved, based on beta tests conducted earlier in 2008.

Folks who do not contribute anonymous, annual sales data by channel by zip code will be charged a fee of $5,000 for an annual license.

Contact me (kevinh@minethatdata.com) for details or to participate.

Zip Code Marketing: Top 10 Most Productive Direct Marketing Customer Regions

Based on the current version of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and buy here), I present you with the top ten most productive direct marketing customer regions --- the places where zip code marketing is likely to be most effective.

Number 10 = Eastern New Jersey.

Number 9 = Wyoming.

Number 8 = Boston / Providence / Cape Cod.

Number 7 = Southwest Colorado.

Number 6 = Southern Maryland.

Number 5 = White Plains & New York City.

Number 4 = New Hampshire.

Number 3 = Northern Virginia.

Number 2 = Connecticut.

Number 1 = Vermont.


Yup, good 'ole Vermont is the most productive area for direct marketing in the United States. In fact, outside of portions of Colorado and Wyoming, the East Central and Northeast United States, and New England are the most productive (demand per household) in the United States.

In fact, these regions spend 2.5 times as much per capita as do any other region in the United States.

Of course, this is actionable at a zip code level, because there are significant differences in spend by zip code and channel preference by zip code.

It does make one wonder about all of this multichannel marketing stuff. It becomes more and more clear that there are customer-specific micro-channel preferences and geographic influences that override multichannel best practices.

Long Island: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

The Northeast United States is a direct marketing hotbed unlike any other, as validated by Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here).

As marketers, we need to think about the differences we see in geography. This map shows outstanding performance in Manhattan, marginal performance in Queens and The Bronx.

Then we head out on Long Island, and we find a multichannel hotbed of customers who prefer both e-commerce and catalog marketing.

Finally, we get out to the Hamptons, and we find a veritable plethora of Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans. We see a similar trend as we move north toward White Plains.

Repeatedly, we see suburban customers who are focused on e-commerce, exurban customers who are potentially appropriately called "multichannel" customers, and rural customers near urban areas who prefer catalog marketing. Our marketing practices can adapt and respond to these realities. Remember, Catalog Crazies and Online Bliss customers spend nearly twice as much as the average customer.

It Never Rains In California: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Another fascinating geography, illustrated by Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here), is the area between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe / Reno.

There are dramatic differences in customer preference as we move from west to east!

North of wine country, we have a catalog hotbed, with countless Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans zip codes. In fact, you can follow the coast all the way up through Oregon, you'll find folks who love catalogs and spend $$$!

In the Bay Area, you predominantly find Online Bliss and Online Spend segments. The stereotypes of this geography hold true, these folks enjoy e-commerce.

You'll also notice lower productivity in the inner city zips of Oakland and San Jose, consistent with much of the country.

The valley doesn't have a lot of productive zip codes. But follow I-80 from Sacramento to Reno, and you see an e-commerce hotbed that is surrounded by multichannel zip codes to the north and south. Once again, as we head into mountain areas, we find customers who love direct-to-consumer commerce.

We have opportunities to alter marketing strategies based on customer behavior. Customers north of the Bay Area, along the coast, are not likely to be "multichannel". Why treat them that way? Customers in the Bay Area are likely to be e-commerce fans --- use search and social media to collaborate with these folks. And even our highway system plays a role in customer behavior --- I-80 from Sacramento to Reno spurs development, housing, affluent customers, and e-commerce spend.

Colorado: Mountains In Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) clearly indicate that mountain states are direct marketing hotbeds.

Colorado might be the most interesting of the mountain states.

Looking at this map, we see several unique trends. Eastern Colorado has e-commerce potential, especially along I-70. Denver, like many major metropolitan areas, is not an e-commerce or direct marketing hotbed.

Move to the suburbs and exurbs, and you see a bunch of Online Bliss and Online Spend zips, the most productive online zip codes that exist.

And then we head west, into the Rockies, away from Denver. There, we find a ton of Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans. This is interesting, because marketing best practices tell us to have a full multichannel offering for our customers --- yet the customers in Western Colorado love direct mail and catalogs, and use the telephone to place their orders. This is traditional catalog marketing at its finest.

When we think about catalog marketing, e-mail marketing, and search marketing through the perspective of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics, we think about many ways to customize and personalize our marketing to the folks we are communicating with. We don't send an e-mail marketing message offering buy online / pickup in stores to a customer in the Rockies of Colorado, do we? We don't necessarily scale our catalogs down to 48 pages to drive web traffic to a customer who lives in the Rockies of Colorado, do we? And we might think about social shopping when considering customers who live in Boulder.

Appalachian Mountains: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Another interesting outcome of the beta of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) occurs in mountain areas.

This map shows trends from Washington, DC to Atlanta.

As we leave Washington, heading southwest, we migrate from Online Bliss to Catalog Fans. In Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina, there are many productive zip codes in the Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans segments.

As we approach Atlanta, the focus shifts, with many productive zip codes northeast of Atlanta, mostly in the Online Bliss and Online Spend segments.

Mountain areas tend to be very productive regions for direct marketers. As you get closer to cities, e-commerce is prevalent. As you get farther away from cities, traditional direct marketing and ordering over the telephone becomes important.

Urban, Suburban and Rural: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

One of the unique validations of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) is the consistent difference in behavior between Urban, Suburban, and Rural zip codes.

This map features the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison markets. Look closely at Chicago and Milwaukee.

The inner city zip codes perform well below average. As you move out from the inner city, into the suburbs, you see e-commerce take over, with many Online Bliss and Online Spend zip codes.

Moving beyond the suburbs, and we begin to see Catalog Fans, and even a few Catalog Crazies.

Repeatedly, across the United States, we observe this behavior. Direct Marketing is a uniquely suburban, exurban, and rural practice --- something the marketing experts who preach multichannel strategies may not have ever had the data to validate. And this makes sense, folks! You go back to the early days of Montgomery Wards and Sears, and you'll see that the catalog was the commerce lifeline to rural folks.

You think differently when you know that many urban areas, retail hotbeds, are not always direct marketing responsive. You think about e-mail marketing differently when you think about targeting a suburban and exurban customer. You think about catalog marketing differently when you think about targeting an exurban or in some cases a rural customer.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: Download The Paper

The vast majority of the work has been done in the beta version of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics!

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics classify each zip code in the United States on the propensity for residents of that zip code to shop via traditional direct marketing (catalogs) or via e-commerce. Furthermore, the segmentation strategy classifies zip codes on the basis of overall productivity, illustrating zip codes that are highly productive, and those that are generally unproductive. The segmentation strategy is based on nearly a billion dollars of sales across a dozen leading direct marketers.

There are six segments in Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics. From Catalog Crazies to Online Bliss, you'll see your business in a whole new light, having the ability to filter out unproductive names from your marginal segments.

If you are interested in participating in and purchasing Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics and wish to learn more about the six segments, please download a paper on Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics here.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics: The Beta Roster Is Complete!

Pending data from two brands, the roster for Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics is complete ... and the roster is a spectacular blend of leading multichannel brands spanning a wide array of merchandise presentations!

Thank you so much to those who volunteered your data! It is now my job to create something that will increase sales and profit. I so look forward to doing that!

The dataset has outstanding coverage ... the full roster of brands generated over a billion dollars of sales over the past twelve months. That provides plenty of coverage to make good, reliable insights.

Most interesting is the fact that the data already debunk many of the leading hypotheses about multichannel marketing. In fact, the data strongly suggest there is a compelling geographic component to customer behavior, a geographic component that lends itself to the practice of micro-channel marketing. Multichannel marketing as we know it today struggles to fit within the framework harvested by actual customer data.

The beta roster will benefit from free updates and use of the information for a minimum of one year. Kudos to all of you willing to take a risk on a new product, I am very appreciative!

Only 3 Free Spots Left: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics Free Beta Test

As of right now, there are only three spots left in the free beta test for Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics.

In fact, based on initial demand, there have been more than twenty brands that have expressed interest, so it appears likely that the final three slots will be gobbled up soon.

Sign up, folks!!! Contact me now, before the spots are gone.

I've been surprised by the negative feedback, the criticisms of our industry leaders ... your negativity motivates me!! Some of the questions are valid, so allow me to address those issues.

Question: How is this different than all of the zip models that have only worked "so-so" over the past few decades? There are a few subtle differences. First, we are combining sales across many different companies, not simply including company-specific data. Second, we are using census bureau data to better estimate sales per individual. Third, we are going to forecast the channels that are preferred by zip code, which will aid your catalog marketing and e-mail marketing activities, as well as aid your lifetime value calculations. Fourth, we will have a small number of segments, between four and eight, a significant change from the commercial zip code tools that are currently available, tools that have sixty or more segments.

Question: You suggest that by filtering out the poor performing zip codes, segment performance will improve by ten percent. Is that worth it? That's for you to decide. This question comes up repeatedly. An industry that is struggling might embrace something that helps improve performance.

Question: Can I see separate models that are tailored to unique merchandise divisions (i.e. Home, Kids, Apparel)? At some point in the future, yes. In the beta-testing stage, with only ten companies, probably not.

Question: If I don't participate in the beta test, what will is cost me to purchase the segmentation tool? If the beta test is successful, the product is tentatively priced at $5,000 per year.

Question: Show me how I will use the tool. Ok, let's assume that you are going to consider catalog advertising to two segments of customers (e-mail marketing works the same way). The first segment is at break-even (so you decide to mail the segment), the second segment is below break-even (so you decide to not mail the segment).

Here is the profit and loss statement before applying Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics, and after applying Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics. This is likely to be the level of performance you can expect --- some would scoff at it, others would apply this across dozens of segments across dozens of mailings, and enjoy the profit.

Before Applying Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics
	Segment 1	Segment 2	Totals
Households	20,000	0	20,000
Demand	$40,000	$0	$40,000
Net Sales	$32,000	$0	$32,000
Gross Margin	$16,000	$0	$16,000
Less Marketing Cost	$11,200	$0	$11,200
Less Pick/Pack/Ship	$4,800	$0	$4,800
Variable Profit	$0	$0	$0
After Applying Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics
	Segment 1	Segment 2	Totals
Households	10,000	10,000	20,000
Demand	$22,000	$20,900	$42,900
Net Sales	$17,600	$16,720	$34,320
Gross Margin	$8,800	$8,360	$17,160
Less Marketing Cost	$5,600	$5,600	$11,200
Less Pick/Pack/Ship	$2,640	$2,508	$5,148
Variable Profit	$560	$252	$812

Zip Code Forensics And Regional Differences

Geography continues to play a significant role in our marketing efforts. It's the reason for introducing Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics.

In the social media world, folks are beginning to take notice.

In the multichannel marketing side of the world, zip code models have been in existence for a very long time, as evidenced in this article from 2000.

We haven't done a good job of drawing intelligence from our models. It's one thing to see if we can improve the effectiveness of marketing activities by treating customers in certain geographic areas differently.

It's quite another thing to change how we practice marketing, based on what the information tells us.

Looking at the map above, we notice a lot of orange in Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri. These zip codes tend to be less productive than average, and skew toward traditional marketing techniques.

In other words, we shouldn't expect these areas to be highly responsive to tactics like e-mail marketing or social media. This doesn't mean individual customers won't be responsive. But on average, we need to think differently about these customers.

How do we merchandise a catalog for the customer who lives in a rural area? How do we merchandise a catalog for the customer who has 1,443 retail opportunities within two miles of her home? How do we execute an e-mail marketing campaign for the customer in Northern Missouri? How do we execute an e-mail marketing campaign for the customer living in Silicon Valley? What version of a home page or landing page could be created for the rural customer, or the urban customer?

We're going to get better at using the tools already available to us. We will change how we present ourselves to unique customer segments.

When Zip Code Forensics Meet Multichannel Forensics

In a world where customers receive discounted offers for computers offered on Twitter, it may seem unusual that some customers still prefer to mail an order form to the brand they wish to place an order from.

Those of you with 1.21 gigawatt cable broadband speed can get up off the floor now and go use FriendFeed to notify the world of this shocking development.

Customers who mail their orders to brands are different than other customers. This is where Zip Code Forensics and Multichannel Forensics play a role in managing the customer relationship.

Here are repurchase indices for a brand that has a lot of customers who place orders via the mail. We appropriate the repurchase index across the four Zip Code Forensics segments. Take a look at zip codes that prefer catalogs, and have low sales potential. The Online channel has a very low repurchase index.

In other words, customers who live in low potential zip codes that prefer catalog marketing (i.e. rural areas) are unlikely to use the online channel, while all other customers who mail their orders have a reasonable chance of using the online channel in the future.

Eventually, we're going to see marketers divide their audience into sub-segments. Some customers simply want to have a traditional relationship with a brand. Other customers want to have a digital relationship with a brand. In catalog and e-mail marketing, we'll execute different versions of our marketing efforts for the traditional audience. This is the audience that can stomach 16 catalogs a year, twelve of which are remailed catalogs. The digital audience will require a different, more personalized strategy.

And we'll use Zip Code Forensics and Multichannel Forensics to help us identify the tactics we need to employ.

Marketers: Spaces are filling up quickly for the beta test version of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics. The first ten marketers get to participate in the product for free. Contact me immediately if you wish to participate in the free version of the product.

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics!!!

Would you be interested in being one of ten companies that get to participate in the launch of a new product, for free?

I am close to completing the development of a product called "Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics". The product segments every zip code in the United States based on the sales potential of the zip code (high potential, low potential), and the marketing preference of the zip code (traditional/catalog or online/digital).

At this time, there are four segments, based on the combination of descriptors listed above.

Early tests indicate significant potential! The catalog marketer or e-mail marketer would be able to not mail unprofitable names in break-even segments, increasing profitability in the process. I envision the catalog marketer overlaying the segmentation against marginal co-op/outside lists and unprofitable housefile segments. I see e-mail marketers decreasing frequency among traditional/catalog segments. Multichannel marketers will be able to clearly demonstrate that they are getting a better mix of multichannel customers if traditional/catalog and online/digital segment counts are both increasing, especially in high-potential zip codes.

Here is a link to a white paper outlining Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics.

If you would like to be one of the ten companies that gets to participate (for free) in the final testing and development of the product, please contact me. All participants will send me anonymous zip code level sales data, by channel, for the past twelve months, and will get to use the product for free for at least one year if the algorithm becomes a commercially viable tool.

The product will be tentatively priced at $5,000/year should it be launched commercially. Based on initial tests, many companies who execute direct marketing campaigns will profitably benefit from the segmentation scheme.