Tomato Sauce Marketing

I was recently involved in a project for a loan organization. What was fascinating about this project was the way customer data is moved through various organizations. All using secure xml transactions, various third parties would add value to the customer data. At the point we received the data it was ready for underwriters to make a loan decision. This is nothing new.

However more and more companies are collaborating and sharing data about site visitors, what makes this project interesting is that the fact we in turn would feed data back into the system. As part of the arrangement we would inform the network that the customer had applied for a loan. Therefore if the customer jumped across the Internet to a competitor, they would immediately know that a loan had been requested elsewhere so adding value to the underwriting process.

This is one example of how information is being shared across organizations. Its a rather harsh example, but I can see the day when health care organizations share basic information, thus enhancing your experience as you move across networks. If the paradigm is that effective information should seek you out and the right time and place - then shared marketing database are going to be needed. Of course this opens up the Pandora’s box, information security, privacy and so on. Someone will solve this problem soon, will it be you or your competitor network?