Database Paper

Whatis.com (2004) defines a database as "a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated." In my current job at Wellco Tank Trucks, Inc., we do not use any type of databases in the daily operations of our business. My only job that involved regular use of a database was at Chilcutt Direct Marketing (CDM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. From February 2003 to June 2004, I was an Account Executive of Brokerage at CDM. CDM is a direct marketing company that manages and brokers customer mailing lists for companies across the United States.

The company uses an operating system called AS/400. AS/400 is setup with a database included. The database is customizable to fit the specific needs of a company. Scott Chilcutt, who at one time was the IT manager for CDM, designed a unique database called Marketing Information Network. This database contained separate "datacards" for each of the mailing lists that are on the market. These datacards are a quick and easy way to share the information necessary to decide what mailing list a company needs to rent for their specific marketing needs. Marketing Information Network (MIN) currently contains datacards for over 90% of the 40,000-plus total mailing lists that are available in the United States.

MIN's datacards contain rental pricing information, a brief description of the list, a customer profile, and selection choices and prices. MIN allows the user to search through its database using preset or customized search queues. For example, my biggest client at CDM was Bass Pro Shops. Each Christmas, Bass Pro Shops would rent two million names and addresses to send their Christmas catalogs to. It was my responsibility to search through MIN to find the best possible source lists for BPS to rent names from. For BPS, I would search the database by keywords such as hunting, fishing, camping or hiking. Then to narrow my choices further, I could search by customer age. My target customer for BPS was a male between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five with household incomes of more than $25,000 per year who has shown interest in outdoor activities such as hunting or fishing. By searching through the database using the target customer information, I could narrow the field of possible lists from 40,000 to less than fifty. From there, I would research each of the lists further to find the best possible customer lists for