Claritas Marks Its 10th Annual Precision Marketing Conference With Largest Attendance On Record; Nearly 400 Marketers Attend Highly-Regarded Event.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2000

Claritas, Inc., the premier provider of intelligent marketing information and target marketing services for the automotive, financial services, media, retail, real estate, restaurant, telecommunications and energy/utilities industries, ushered in its first Precision Marketing Conference of the 21st Century, and 10th overall, in record fashion July 16-19, attracting nearly 400 attendees, many of whom represent major, Fortune 500 companies.

The four-day event, which is widely considered one of the best of its kind, featured 39 breakout sessions conducted by both Claritas clients and executives and covered a myriad of important target marketing-specific subjects, some of which included:

-- Meridith Heckmann, Sodexho Marriott Services, "Food Service Marketing in
Colleges and Universities"

-- Bruce Johnson, Charter Communications, "Multivariate Targeting: Taliesin"
(Preservation Fund)

-- Case Studies In Executing Retail Development Strategies, presented

by Deloitte & Touche

-- Meridith Heckmann, Sodexho Marriott Services, "Food Service Marketing in
Colleges and Universities"

-- Bruce Johnson, Charter Communications, "Multivariate Targeting: Taliesin"
(Preservation Fund)

-- One Dead Strategy, presented by Duke Energy

"This was without a doubt our most successful conference ever," said president and CEO Bob Nascenzi. "A tremendous amount of information was presented and shared over the course of the conference, all of which goes toward strengthening how we develop and provide the data and how our clients utilize it," he added.

A sampling of the companies who were represented includes GTE, AT&T, ExxonMobil, Time, Merrill Lynch, MCI Worldcom, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Knight-Ridder and SBC Communications.

Another highlight of the conference was the keynote speech, a high-energy presentation at the opening session by celebrated marketing expert Barry Gibbons, former CEO of Burger King. Gibbons both entertained and educated the audience on the ever-evolving subject of "New Branding," stressing the need for vigilance in striving for different ways to attract and retain business, an effort that he believes should be driven, in part, by innovative customer service.

Also announced at the opening session were the top three Best Practices winners, who were determined based on how their programs/campaigns best met four distinct components -- discovery, strategy, implementation and measurement. The winners and their programs were:

-- Meridith Heckmann, Sodexho Marriott Services, "Food Service Marketing in
Colleges and Universities"

-- Bruce Johnson, Charter Communications, "Multivariate Targeting: Taliesin"
(Preservation Fund)

-- Tina Farrington, Rurban Financial, "Private Certificate of Deposit

Sale"

The Honorable Mention awards went to Bob Carrane of the Chicago Tribune for "Read All About It -- Newspaper Helps Sell Luxury SUVs," and Susan Magi and Cheryl Baylor of Alamo Rent-a-Car for "Newspaper 2000" and "Customer Acquisition Lets Alamo 'Drive Happy'," respectively.

Noted demographic author Michael Weiss was also on hand to sign his new book, "The Clustered World," and attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd. Weiss' other two books are "The Clustering of America" and "Attitudes and Latitudes."

And, the "Discovery Cafe" had a highly successful debut as a popular gathering place where clients and employees alike flocked to enjoy a beverage and snack and see ongoing demonstrations of Claritas' newest products. One such product previewed to wide acclaim was "i-Mark" 1.6, a premiere, enterprise-wide site and market analysis system. This new version includes all the building blocks to support importing and linking of customer data. Also well received was "ConsumerPoint," the latest customer acquisition and cross sell system.

Nascenzi said the response from Claritas clients and other participants was consistently positive and enthusiastic in dealing both with the overall organization of the conference and the quality of information presented. "With this kind of reaction we are emboldened to even further improve on next year's conference, which will commemorate the company's 30th anniversary," he said.

About Claritas

Based in San Diego, Calif., Claritas Inc. is regarded as the premier worldwide provider of precision marketing solutions, developed, in part, through intricate customer segmentation systems and other such marketing tools. It is a division of VNU Marketing Information, Inc. (VNU MI, Inc.), an established leader in providing a wide variety of industries with innovative precision-marketing solutions including geodemographic information and qualitative audience research. VNU MI, Inc. is a subsidiary of VNU, Inc. that also includes Nielsen Media Research, Bill Communications, BPI Communications, SRDS, VNU eMedia, and VNU Expositions.