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Assess Value of Leading Business Database Company Selling Information for Direct Marketing
Client: Deloitte
Brief
Intangible Business was employed by Deloitte to assess the value of Conduit Business Information, a leading business database company selling names, addresses and information for direct marketing purposes to clients including Audi, Orange, BT, Salvation Army and Shell. Intangible Business also valued over 300 domain names as part of the administration process. Deloitte was handling the administration of the company.
Approach
An initial investigation revealed that although Conduit was unprofitable due to mismanagement, it still had valuable assets: a good reputation/brand name and three unique database products. The databases included Business Universe, a B2B data source of 2m records covering small, medium and large businesses; Midas, a database of 1.2m company directors; and Fleet, the UK's most comprehensive fleet database with 58,000 records.
With astute management and investment, Conduit could be turned around to deliver a profit and a return to its creditors. Intangible Business agreed to take on the management of Conduit on behalf of the administrator. Experienced teams were immediately put in place to improve the quality of the database products, reignite old customer relations and improve business operations. A validation team refreshed the data, new sales software was developed and new sales teams deployed.
In addition to improving the quality of the databases, Conduit’s market reputation was also restored with marketing initiatives. Relationships were established with database brokers and other data providers.
Result
The three core database products have been improved substantially. New relationships are proving successful and Conduit’s reputation in the field has been restored with the trade and direct customers. Sales are up in a difficult commercial environment and it is already delivering profits. With continued investment, Conduit is set to deliver a successful turnaround and return.
Conduit case study