Alfred Hampton
Database/Systems Administrator
Improve geocoding and marketing
SAS® Data Management delivers banner results to Miami Herald Media Company’s database marketing division
The Miami Herald Media Company had been using a data quality solution that lacked the ability to consistently produce the highest level of data coding. Replacing the existing data quality solution with SAS technology eliminated the company's data quality issues and introduced a new level of geocoding accuracy and address verification capabilities.
SAS gave us the flexibility, connectivity and accuracy to improve our data quality and meet the needs of our clients.
The challenge
The Miami Herald Media Company's direct mail operation sends out over half a million pieces of mail each week.
Operating with a business model that was completely dependent upon accurate and reliable data, the organization knew the need for accurate and reliable data and had been using a data quality solution for years. Unfortunately, this data quality solution did not consistently produce the highest level of data coding.
With this knowledge, the Miami Herald Media Company (MHMC) sought to replace its existing data quality solution with a better, more accurate and more cost-effective solution. To achieve this, the company turned to SAS Data Management.
The solution
The company selected the industry-leading SAS Data Management platform to replace the incumbent data quality solution. SAS products offer a cutting-edge data quality and data integration platform built on best practices and real-world implementations, helping organizations understand and improve the quality of enterprise data.
SAS provides full-featured address verification for more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Beyond essential address verification, SAS offers value-added content with regional address, phone number and demographic data enhancements, as well as rooftop-level geocoding.
The results
SAS gave MHMC the flexibility it needed to process data from multiple sources, de-duplicate, cleanse and improve its data records in order to transform the data into trusted information that was usable for the company and marketable to its clients.
The company was able to enhance its geocoding by consistently delivering the highest level of accuracy, rooftop-level geocoding.
MHMC also eliminated another issue it had encountered: oversized cluster groups from the matching process. SAS technology not only improved the accuracy of its data, but also improved the reporting of anomalous, or unmatchable, data. This change allowed the company to improve its overall data quality.
"SAS gave us the flexibility, connectivity and accuracy to improve our data quality and meet the needs of our clients," says Alfred Hampton, Database/Systems Administrator with MHMC.
Challenge
Ensure the highest standard of accuracy, reliability of data behind more than 500,000 pieces of direct mail sent each week.
Solution
Benefits
SAS Data Management not only improved the accuracy of the media company's data, but also improved the reporting of anomalous, or unmatchable, data. This change allowed the company to improve its overall data quality.
The results illustrated in this article are specific to the particular situations, business models, data input, and computing environments described herein. Each SAS customer’s experience is unique based on business and technical variables and all statements must be considered non-typical. Actual savings, results, and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions. SAS does not guarantee or represent that every customer will achieve similar results. The only warranties for SAS products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements in the written agreement for such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Customers have shared their successes with SAS as part of an agreed-upon contractual exchange or project success summarization following a successful implementation of SAS software. Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.