General Offer

UKChanges offer a broad range of data management services, from simple normalisation and cleansing of customer records through to the creation of complex analysis and data segmentation models.

Available as an end-to-end solution, or as a selectable range of individual services, UKChanges aims to build an understanding of the customer’s needs and provide considered advice on the most cost-effective, intelligent data-driven solutions to their business issues.

Our services are delivered via a traditional data bureau, with a team of experienced data processors, through a suite of user-controlled online tools, or as integrated solutions that are built to work within customers’ existing IT infrastructure.


All of UKChanges services are provided with comprehensive Account Management from a named member of the UKChanges team. Users of UKChanges>online also receive full technical support during office hours.

The UKChanges Account Management team and Senior Management are always happy to meet with clients and discuss specific projects bringing their combined wealth of practical data management experience to bear on any data related issues the customer is facing.

Where required, the UKChanges Development Team can be used to develop technical solutions to clients’ specific data problems. In addition to a range of bespoke developments and adjustment to our own systems, the Development Team have also created ‘white-label’ versions of the ‘Clean’ element within our online tool for high-volume resellers of the system.

Access Options:

The range of data management services from UKChanges can be accessed in three ways:

Bureau:

A traditional data management bureau with a team of experienced data professionals whose expertise lie in the processing, management and analysis of customer information.
Data is transferred via secure FTP, encrypted and compressed email or on media such as CD. This data is loaded on the the UKChanges Bureau infrastructure, processed and returned to the client for use in their business activities.

Online:

A market leading suite of user-driven data management tools that combine all of the offline services of UKChanges in a secure, intuitive, fast and flexible web-based environment.
The longest established online data management tool in the UK market, files are uploaded via a secure connection to the dedicated UKChanges>online server farm, where jobs are created, processed and downloaded by the client.

Integrated:

Specific data management functionality built in to customers’ existing marketing and IT infrastructure.

Data Normalisation

A range of services and processes designed to create a standard format and record structure across the customer’s file.

Services range from validating and updating address records to current deliverability standards; reformatting name fields and salutations to ensure consistency across the database; updating and standardising additional contact data fields to meet commonly accepted formats; overall standardisation of field layouts across single or multiple databases to improve matching and increase propensity for successful analysis and segmentation based upon transactional data contained within the file.

Deduplication & Data Cleaning

Sending multiple versions of the same message or offer to the same individual is not only a waste of time and budget, it undermines response rates and campaign Return On Investment figures, as well as having the potential to damage the brand image and turn-off existing customers.

Deduplication processes quickly identify repeated records, providing the opportunity to reduce costs and consolidate knowledge and insights on that individual in to a single record. When undertaking deduplication processes across multiple files UKChanges can help customers to build hierarchies that place greater value on the information held in selected files; ensuring that the most important / recent information is not over-written by older data.

Data cleansing takes the basic contact information held on a customer file and ensures that this information is accurate and up-to-date. In addition to verifying existing data and completing or adding missing elements to improve deliverability of campaigns, the data cleaning process will also identify instances where individuals have moved house and provide new addresses where possible, as well as flagging records where the individual on file has been registered as deceased.

Data cleaning and deduplication processes ensure that marketers are not wasting budget and resources attempting to send messages to individuals on their database who cannot or will not respond. In addition to reducing costs and improving campaign performance, these processes will also help marketers to meet their legal obligations concerning consumer privacy, as well as protect the brand from negative PR associated to poor marketing practices.

Single Customer View

Many organisations hold data in a range of different databases across the business, often with information contained relating to a specific function or department and its interactions with the individual customer. It is a commonly held belief that a Single Customer View database that can be accessed and updated by the various different departments and functions within the business is the most effective way to manage customer relationships.

UKChanges can help companies to build an SCV database by developing an agreed data structure with the client and establishing a hierarchy of importance for the various unique files that will be brought together. Applying Unique Reference Numbers and complex deduplication processes, along with data cleansing and normalisation, the SCV data can be compiled and any conflicts identified and resolved with input from the customer. The URN process ensures that all data can be tracked back to the original file. A set of rules are then applied to data capture and input standards and recommendations made for regular and ongoing management and maintenance of the centralised data repository.

Client organisations can then access a single, universal database that contains information from every relevant department within the business. In addition to driving efficiency, this single view creates a more comprehensive picture of that individual and their relationship with the brand, providing additional data elements for analysis and the creation of customer segments.

Data Enhancement

Using a range of different data sources, UKChanges can add additional detail to customer records and enable marketers to gain a clearer picture of the different social, economic and geographic factors that relate to and influence their customers.

From simple enhancements, such as the addition of telephone numbers, mobile numbers and email addresses to increase the range of contact channels available to the marketer; through to the addition of lifestyle information and wealth indicators, such as details relating to the home, investments and employment; or socio-demographic classifications, such as ACORN flags and Cameo profiles. UKChanges can provide marketers with access to a comprehensive and complementary array of different data enhancement files, helping them to get closer to their customers, make more effective selections and successfully drive the growth of their business through the intelligent use of customer data.

Analysis & Segmentation

Data analysis and segmentation services are available through user-controlled web-based tools contained within the ‘Hosted’ tab of the UKChanges>online application, or through the experienced team of data professionals employed within the bureau.

By analysing transactional data collected by the marketing team, UKChanges are able to help customers to identify a variety of distinct groups and factors that influence these groups within the database. Insights such as the correlation between recency, frequency and value of transaction can be quickly visualised using a range of graphs, charts, diagrams, maps and cubes to make the data more approachable and to instantly identify ‘best’ and ‘worst’ customer groups. Additional data enhancements, such as ACORN classifications and geographic data can be used to further refine targeting of messages and offers to cost-effectively drive increases in ROI from marketing activities.

Providing data is accurate and suitably normalised, so that the same information can be found in the same format and the same field throughout the file, the marketer can use any of the available elements within the database to perform quick, easy analysis and segmentation on their records.

New Prospect Data

By undertaking analysis of existing customer data and tracking campaign responses, the marketer is able to build a solid understanding of the key segments within their data and the messages they respond to. This ‘profile’ can be used to identify new prospect records that share similar traits to ‘best’ customers groups; increasingly the likelihood that these new target audiences will respond to campaigns and become good, profitably customers.

Selections of new prospect records can be made by the UKChanges bureau team or can be created by the marketer using the ‘Supply’ tab within the UKChanges>online application. The user-driven selections are made via a simple interface that employs maps to define geographic areas and allows the marketer to make initial selections by clicking on the corresponding area of the map. The selections are refined at a second stage where additional data attributes, such as socio-demographic information, council tax bands, gender, age and other defining factors can be added together in order to refine the number of records selected. A fast counting tool, created by the in-house development team, provides instant counts of the number of records that meet the user’s criteria. This figure can be quickly adjusted up or down to suit campaign requirements by amending the selection.

Data Hosting

The data hosting element of the UKChanges service offer allows client companies to upload their data on to the secure servers within the UKChanges data processing farm. Once uploaded, this data can be accessed by the UKChanges bureau team, or can be remotely accessed by the marketer using a secure internet connection.

Data held on the ‘Hosted’ tab of UKChanges>online can be cleansed and enhanced via the ‘Clean’ tab, or can be loaded in to once of the Data Image tools, such as the RFV Cube or Maps to enable quick visualisation. The hosted database can also be loaded in to the Data View tool, where a range of hierarchical ‘and / or’ clauses can be created to build specific views of sub-sets within the main database. These views can be saved and given titles, perhaps relating to specific campaigns or the data used to create the view – for example: low value regular buyers.

Further analysis can be performed on the created view, which can then be set-up as a campaign within the Campaign Management tool.

Campaign Management

To keep track of the different data views used to drive their campaigns and the responses that these campaigns generate, UKChanges provide marketers with a Campaign Management tool as part of the UKChanges>online application.

The Campaign Management tool allows the marketer to create a new data View or select and (re)name an existing data View for their campaign. Furthermore, the tool allows the user to add in coding details specific to this data View, such as a Campaign Response code, text codes and stationary codes for the printer. The user can also add fixed costs and pack costs, as well as create test and control elements within the campaign – all using a simple user interface within the web-based application.
Once the file has been output and the campaign has gone out to the target audience, the marketer can upload the ‘outcomes’ of their activity back in to the system and perform some analysis using the Outcomes Dashboard, which displays a range of customisable graphs and charts that quickly visualise the results of the activity. These responses can be collected over time and supplemented with additional data elements to create a truly valuable transactional database that provide a single view customers’ interactions with the brand.