FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information contact:
Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President
1-800-331-8102, ext.123
rtesi@worldata.com

Worldata releases the Summer 2007 List Price Index
B-to-B and B-to-C Permission Based Email Continue to Decline;
Postal B-to-B and B-to-C Magazine and Newsletters Remain Strong
New Data Released: Selection Charting
Selects Continue to Rise

August 2007, Boca Raton, FL –

Worldata’s 2007 List Price Index, the barometer for the pricing and trending of all list rental pricing,shows a continuation from a year ago in B-to-B and B-to-C permission based email list prices with decreases of $4/M and $5/M respectively. At the same time, B-to-B and B-to-C magazine lists and newsletters continue to increase.

For over twenty years, Worldata, the leaders in the direct/interactive marketing services field, have produced the Worldata List Price Index, which provides a comparison of list prices during any given 12-month period and is reported quarterly. The List Price Index tracks price fluctuations, as cost per thousand (CPM), for lists in various categories and has become the barometer of the list industry.

The most recent Worldata List Price Index reflects price variations from July 2006 to July 2007. The lists evaluated are grouped into categories, such as Consumer Book Buyers, Newsletters and Business Merchandise Buyers, to name a few. Information such as Average Price, Lowest List Price, Highest List Price and Exact Dollar Changes are provided. Through charts and graphs, year-to-year price fluctuations can easily be distinguished in this index.

“The trend of lower CPM’s for B-to-B and B-to-C Permission Based Email lists appears to be continuing through the summer of 2007. Lower CPM’s has allowed mailers to increase their marketing efforts in the email category. However, average response rates have kept email marketing at the same pace it was a year or two ago. The decrease is likely due with list owners finding it necessary to compete with negotiated CPM’s and off-ratecard pricing in the continued penetration of email marketing. The CPM’s for traditional Newsletters and Consumer and Business Magazines continued to rise and the demand is still high,” says Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President of Worldata.

Worldata has also been charting selection charges for many years as well and this summer introduces the findings. The selections tracked include industry standard selects such as Gender, Geography, Recency / Hotline, Address Type (Business vs. Consumer), and Job Title.

“For many years, select charges remained relatively constant having only modest increases. However, over the past 18 months, there has been a marked increase in select charges in the range of 20% to 35%.  This more than likely reflects a ‘cost of living’ increase rather than a reaction to decreasing CPM’s.  Given the historical background, this pricing will likely remain stable for a good number of years to come,” says Tesi.

With this in mind, the comparison of lists in this Summer 2007 List Price Index to the Summer 2006 List Price Index of a year ago reveals some very significant variations not only in individual categories, but in media types as well as exhibited below:

The Straight Average Graph (Chart 1) in the Worldata List Price Index examines the average price per thousand (PPM) of the lists we have grouped in each category. Triple bars are used in each category for easy comparison of July 2005 and 2006 prices to July 2007 prices.

Overall, PPM averages for July 2007 remain consistent as compared to July 2006. However, specific groups within categories demonstrated notable increases and decreases worth reporting.

  • Permission Based Email Business-to-Business is the highest priced category, with a July 2007 straight average price of $277/M, a decrease of $4/M over last year, continuing the decrease the category had in the previous year. The decreased pricing in this category reflects a decline in the number of responsive B-to-B Email lists available for rental. The increased supply over the years has allowed for mailers to deliver larger quantities of targeted campaigns with flat response rates, resulting in price pressure within the marketplace.

  • Permission Based Email Business-to-Consumer , with a July 2007 straight average price of $170M, decreased $5/M over last year, continuing a decrease from the previous year. The decreased pricing in the Business-to-Consumer Email category is another indication that the B-to-C Email lists available for rental are also lower than average in performance forcing CPM’s downward.

  • Postal Newsletters is the third highest priced category, with a July 2007 straight average price of $180/M, an increase of $5/M over last year.

  • Postal Donors category continues to display the lowest overall price of $82, an increase of $5/M over last year.

The Straight Dollar Change Graph (Chart 2) shows the precise dollar amount that the average price for each category has changed within the specified 12-month period.

  • The largest postal price increases occurred with Attendees/Members and Databases/Masterfiles with increases of $18/M and $9/M respectively. This should come as no surprise in the direct mail arena. As mailers are looking for more cost-effective lists to mail in higher volumes, databases offer that solution. As demand for database usage and Memberships lists increase, so do their CPM’s.

  • CPM’s increased in the Postal Newsletters category, which increased $5/M over the past year. This indicates a continued strong performance in this category. Newsletter lists tend to have higher performance as its subscriber base is a highly targeted one and the subscription itself is a high-ticket item.

  • Postal Business Magazines/Controlled increased $6/M over the previous year. This again demonstrates that these categories are still responsive vehicles in the B-to-B direct mail arena. This category has been a strong performer over the years – certainly long before the introduction of email. While the email category CPM is dropping, it’s clear that this category is not only maintaining its responsiveness and target ability, it is actually growing stronger.

The Straight Average Percent Dollar Change Graph(Chart 3) takes into consideration the straight average for each category.

  • The heaviest postal percentage increase occurred in the Attendees/Members category with a 16.51% increase.

This was followed by a postal 6.87% increase in the Databases/Masterfiles category.

Worldata and its group of companies have been leaders in the direct/interactive marketing services field for over 30 years. Worldata designed its corporate headquarters, located in Boca Raton, Florida, from the ground up. It is the only company offering all services under one roof, including Email and Postal List Management, List Brokerage, Email Transmission and Tracking, Database Marketing Services, Data Hygiene, Change of Address, Merge Purge, Custom Marketing Solutionsand Banner Advertising. Information about Worldata can be found at www.worldata.com or contact Ray Tesi, Senior Vice President, at 800-331-8102 or via email at rtesi@worldata.com.

To List Price Index Data>>

List Price Index: Summer 2007 | Straight Average PPM
Straight Dollar Change
| Straight % Average Dollar Change