Broker Roundtable: Who should control marketing databases, marketing or IT? Why?
Welcome to Broker Roundtable, where each week we ask list brokers to give their opinions on issues that matter to the marketing community. This week’s question: Who do you think should control marketing databases, marketing or IT? Why?
Our panel includes Don Eaker of Nexxa Group Inc., Jim Hall of All That Marketing, Michael Peterman of Veradata, Lisa Pollack of Adrea Rubin Marketing Inc. and Shawn R. Salta of Directmail.com. Would you like to be considered to be a member of our roundtable? Contact Larry Riggs ([email protected]).
Don Eaker, national director of sales, Nexxa Group Inc.
IT (information technology) must maintain control because a database is part of a system, and systems are under the watchful eye of IT. But at the same time, marketing must maintain control of a marketing database because that is the way of communicating with clients/prospects and profits generated from that database pay for the companies’ expenses.
So it’s been that way forever. Realistically, marketing is in charge of communicating with buyers and future buyers, so that department is using the database tool for that purpose. IT is charged with making that tool (data) accessible, accurate and available for manipulation for planning and analysis. Thus marketing ultimately controls the marketing database.
There, that settles another world problem once and for all.
However, the debate won’t die that simply. In a perfect world, there would be cooperation between the two divisions, with mutual understanding of the responsibilities, constraints and challenges of each division. It would be nice for marketing to not decide to do a critical analytics project and schedule it to begin the next day, regardless of IT’s internal already planned/scheduled projects.
Likewise, if a world event or market-strategic event occurred, giving marketing a rapidly-closing window of opportunity to capitalize with their customers/prospects, it would be nice for IT not to say it will have to be put in the queue just as any other project. This may be a simplification, but it is also a reality.
Jim Hall, vice president, All That Marketing:
Control should be shared between marketing and IT for several reasons. IT needs to be in charge of the security and stability of the database, they have the experience and expertise to handle those responsibilities. Marketing, on the other hand, knows what information is needed to generate sales from the database. That department should be allowed to share its input for the structure, data and access needed to achieve their goals.
Michael Peterman, CEO, VeraData:
Marketing, of course! I answer this with a personal bias, obviously, but I do believe it is the correct answer. However, the best answer can depend somewhat on the type and size of company. In a perfect world, my marketing department would include a database architect/SQL programmer/SAS engineer/IT liaison.
In my experience, marketing has a lot of requests which require a lot of labor. Potentially, this involves a lot of software and in some cases a lot of hardware which ultimately means a lot of money. Herein lies the issue. One side often doesn’t understand the details of the other, which creates conflict. If managed in one department with one budget and one staff with one goal it becomes simpler to prioritize and justify.
As marketers, we need information now. We need access to reports now. We need our data output now. The conflict I have encountered is priority and expense which, to me, is a silly conflict, easily overcome with the right staff/management. Ultimately, IT (in most companies) is not responsible for driving the growth of an organization. That job lies with sales and marketing. Ergo, the responsible party should control the marketing database as that is the lifeblood of most organizations.
Lisa Pollack, senior account executive,| Adrea Rubin Marketing Inc.:
There should be a symbiotic relationship between IT and the marketers. Companies that have the two departments working together are more likely to achieve optimal results.
Databases are a key element to a marketing campaign, and can help optimize results and create efficiencies in the data and overall budget. IT is necessary and should provide guidance in the best practices in using the database and add to its’ sophistication over time. The products and services are sold to individuals, not exact statistics.
Although the collective target audience tends to have similar characteristics (age, income, geography, etc.) people are unique and should not be marketed to as a part of a large group. Marketing departments are better able to account for personal reasons for buying as well as outside events that shape human behaviors.
Shawn R. Salta, vice president, DirectMail.com:
I don’t believe it is—or should be—an either/or proposition. Both marketing and IT need to control specific aspects of marketing databases. Most marketers do not have the technical know-how to manage a large database structure properly. Without their expertise, the integrity of the database might soon come into question. Conversely, IT specialists rarely possess the background and vision to conceptualize and implement an actual campaign.
For a long time, marketers have wished they could “see” more of the data without having to submit a request to the IT department. This desire fueled the struggle for database control in my opinion. Now, however, there are database structures available that allow marketers to query the database without IT involvement. Such queries include demographic profiling and analysis, list filtering and data visualization to name a few. Opening up the database to marketers and allowing them to view the data themselves will lead to more creative data segmentation. But, there will always be a need for both departments.
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