UBM has tapped Specialists Marketing Services (SMS) to handle list management responsibilities for three of its technology divisions, said SMS EVP Peter Candito on Dec. 20.
The three divisions awarded to SMS are UBM Electronics brands and publications, UBM Channel and UBM TechWeb. These three technology divisions publish news and information on various subjects within the technology vertical. UBM Channel also runs industry seminars and conferences.
UBM previously worked with MeritDirect for its technology division list services marketing, Candito said. SMS will take over all list management responsibilities from MeritDirect on Jan. 1. It was awarded the business after an RFP and lengthy review process, Candito said. He would not be more specific about the RFP’s time frame.
“Good companies sometimes lose business; it’s just the nature of the beast. We respect what [MeritDirect] has done,” Candito said. He credited SMS’s history in the market, enthusiasm, reputation as a company and financial stability as reasons why UBM selected the marketing services company.
Among other projects, SMS will be rebuilding UBM’s Hi-Tech Database — its core direct marketing brand and list rental database — using data gleaned from that database and the databases of UBM’s three technology companies.
“I think the idea is we want to position the High-Tech Database and vertical databases out there properly,” Candito said. “Not that Merit did it improperly, we just have different ideas and we’re going to execute them.”
First on the agenda for SMS as it takes on the new account is becoming acquainted with the brands’ longtime marketing strategies, Candito said.
“We need to work with their marketing people very closely and leverage how they communicate their position in the marketplace,” Candito said. “We want to speak in the same terms to their potential clients. We think it’s important for us to echo the same way.”
The UBM list roster includes 3.2 million technology market contacts, with postal email and telemarketing records. Its database includes business and technology market demographics such as job titles, business types, company size, products purchased and resold and operating system used, among other things, SMS said in a statement.
Candito would not disclose the terms of the deal, including the length of SMS’s contract.
A MeritDirect representative was not immediately available for comment.
