DIRECT-MAIL MARKETER OPENS A DATA BASE FOR PROMOTIONS

LISA A. TIBBITTS

LOMBARD, Ill. -- Metromail, a direct-mail company here, is offering its data base as a tool to help brand marketers and retailers design targeted promotions.

The company, a division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., has introduced a new software package called Metrobase to retailers and manufacturers, said George E. Bardenheier Jr., vice president and national sales manager for consumer product services.

Metromail says its data base covers 90% of the consumers in the United States. The company bills its new service as a way to create more efficient alternatives to mass mailings and freestanding inserts.

Potential clients are responding, according to Bardenheier. "We have proposals out. There is a tremendous amount of interest."

The Metrobase software allows brand marketers and retailers to extract targeted consumer information from the Metromail national data base. That data can be correlated against a store's own list of customers.