A New Chapter for Datran?

Having been on the job as Datran Media’s chairman and CEO just three weeks, Patrick Vogt is the first to admit he’s still getting his bearings.

After all, he’s got something like seven lines of business to wrap his head around.

But he’ll also be the first to say he’s got big plans and they involve far more than just e-mail.

“I like to say we’re building the best digital marketing agency in the industry and e-mail will be only one of those areas,” he said in an interview with this newsletter. “We are at an inflection point in our industry, and that inflection point is our industry right now does not use technology very well to market their products and services and this is branding and direct response. And if you can create a platform that helps marketers do a better job, guess what happens. You end up doing a better job for consumers, as well. Then you’re sending relevant messaging that they want.”

For those unfamiliar with Datran, the company claims to be able to help marketers reach 175 million people through e-mail, a network of Web sites and through social media channels. It also claims to have household demographic information on the consumers in its database, which it touts as among its aces in the hole.

The company also operates list-management and database marketing services, an e-mail compliance service that helps marketers manage opt-out lists, an e-mail marketing platform, an online ad network, an advertising exchange, an online college-student-recruiting business and online marketing-analytics-and-reporting technology.

On paper at least, Vogt would seem to be the ideal CEO for Datran.

Before joining Datran, he was CEO and director of Enliven Marketing Technologies Corp. He joined Enliven as CEO in August 2005, after having served on its board of directors since October 2004.

Earlier this year, Vogt oversaw the acquisition of Enliven and its Unicast rich media advertising unit by digital marketing firm DG FastChannel. He then left the company.

Vogt’s career—which has been heavily online and direct-and online-marketing oriented—includes two stints at Sony, the first as vice president and general manager of Sony’s direct-to-consumer business, the second as senior general manager of Sony eSolutions

In 1999, he joined Dell as general manager responsible for the aftermarket sales-and-marketing division and Dell Online.

Vogt also spent time as vice president and general manager of Americas eBusiness group and direct marketing group for HP.

According to two sources who wished to remain anonymous, Vogt is taking the helm at Datran at a pivotal moment in the company’s history.

One source claimed the company sends between 300 million and 1 billion e-mails a day and that because of the volume, among other things, Datran has been having trouble getting its e-mail delivered.

The other source, however, denied this. The source said that while Datran may have experienced some deliverability bumps 12 to 16 months ago, the company has since severed business with many small mailers, cut down the amount of e-mail it sends, and increased focus on Fortune 500 advertisers as part of a change in its business model.

When told that Datran has had a reputation in the marketplace for being staffed with smart marketers, but somewhat over-aggressive in the volume of e-mail it sends, Vogt said: “I would say in my due diligence I don’t totally agree with you on that, and I can’t comment on rumors and speculation.”

He also declined to answer whether Datran had cut ties with some its smaller customers as part of a business-model change.

“You’re always going to be evolving your business,” he said “It’s the normal course that if there are some customers or partners that aren’t in alignment with where you want to take your company that some partnerships are going to be severed.”

This summer, Datran reportedly cut staff through attrition and layoffs by about 20%, or around 45 employees, sources said. However, one source added, the cuts were overdue and the remaining staff is upbeat about the changes in the firm.

Vogt also declined to talk about staff cuts.

“I can tell you right now we’re hiring in some key areas,” he said. “I am going to do a full evaluation of the business and make prudent decisions that are in the best interest of our company. At this point right now, I’m happy with the business and happy with where we’re going. I typically don’t manage head-count budgets. If we have a business that’s thriving, we’re going to invest in that business.”

When asked what he sees as Datran’s biggest opportunity for growth he said it lies in integrating its various technologies and its intelligence to help its marketing clients execute more efficient online campaigns.

“While we’re doing that, we can have them [marketers] provide a better customer experience for consumers who see that marketing,” he said. “Really it’s in the content-management and media-distribution, and metrics-and-reporting area, leveraging the intelligence capabilities to enhance the ability of publishers, brands and agencies to execute more insightful marketing campaigns.”

Forty-four-year-old Vogt replaced Datran co-founder Alan Laifer who remains on the company’s board of directors.