Careers at Acxiom

Mission

Acxiom’s mission is to make it safe and easy to activate data anywhere.

Business segments

Acxiom is a marketing technology and services company.  The firm operates three reportable business segments:

  • Connectivity – Activates data and makes it portable across the open marketing ecosystem.
  • Audience Solutions - Helps customers validate the accuracy of their people-based data, enhance it with additional insights, and keep it up to date.
  • Marketing Services – Helps customers unify data at the individual level in a privacy-safe environment and use it to achieve data-driven results.

Founding story

In 1969 industrialist Charles Ward founded Demographics, Inc. in Conway, Arkansas. A data processing company, its initial purpose was to develop a mailing list for the Democratic Party that was as comprehensive as that for the Republican Party. It was a small operation, with a single computer and printing press and small clients such as the local bus manufacturing firm.

When some of his business investments failed, Ward decided to sell the company to its management in 1975 -- namely to Charles D. Morgan, who became the new President and CEO. Morgan began taking on all client projects to boost revenues. However, changes in election laws led to loss of income and spurred the firm to narrow its focus to one area: nationwide direct mail marketing.

As a first step in this new strategy, Morgan created the List Order Fulfillment System (LOFS), the first fully automated system used to generate mailing lists in the U.S. In 1980 the company‘s name was changed to Conway Communications Exchange to better reflect its new mission. In 1983 it went public and its name was changed again to CCX Network.

In 1986 Phil Carter joined CCX as its new President. This began a period of growth, with the company tripling its workforce and expanding its presence to New Jersey, Philadelphia, and two locations in the UK. It also began aggressively pursuing major corporate clients seeking an external agency for database management activities. In 1988 its name changed again to Acxiom.

The next two decades saw many milestones. Acxiom grew further through numerous acquisitions, with purchases including Buckley Dement, May & Speh, Digital Impact, part of Claritas, and ChoicePoint’s database marketing solutions unit. These acquisitions enabled it to expand its capabilities and diversify its portolio. Acxiom now offers a wide range of marketing services.

Benefits at Acxiom

Health insurance Dental insurance Vision insurance Life insurance Disability insurance Mental health care Performance bonus Equity incentive plan 401k Plan Employee stock purchase plan Stock options Maternity & Paternity leave Reduced or flexible hours Family medical leave Work from home Unpaid extended leave Vacation & Paid time off Paid holidays Sabbatical Paid sick days Volunteer Time Off Bereavement leave Employee discount Employee assistance program Company mobile phone Company social events Gym membership

Business model of Acxiom

Customer Segments

Acxiom has a mass market business model, with no significant differentiation between customer segments. The company targets its offerings at organizations across industries and sizes.

Value Proposition

Acxiom offers three primary value propositions: performance, risk reduction, and brand/status.

The company demonstrates strong performance through tangible results. Its proprietary recognition technology links together numerous consumer records and identifiers. The technology uses 100% deterministic matching to link households and individuals to the right mobile device IDs, cookies, and user accounts at social networks, resulting in a high degree of accuracy and speed.

The company reduces risk through high safety and security standards, as follows:

  • It established the industry's first Chief Privacy Officer role, the sole purpose of which was to ensure the responsible use and protection of consumer data
  • It utilizes a data Safe Haven, a privacy-compliant environment that enables partners and marketers to connect different types of data while governing and protecting its use
  • It created aboutthedata.com, a portal that provides consumers with more understanding of and transparency about how their data is gathered and used for marketing purposes

The company has established a strong brand due to its success. It bills itself as the largest provider of data onboarding services. Its technology powers over a trillion transactions.It serves over 3,250 clients directly, including over 50% of the Fortune 100,  and its data is used by tens of thousands of organizations. Its customers include the following:

  • 9 of the top 10 insurance providers
  • 9 of the top 10 media and telecommunications firms
  • 8 of the top 10 automotive manufacturers
  • 8 of the top 10 U.S. hotel companies
  • 7 of the top 10 retailers
  • 7 of the top 10 retail banks
  • 7 of the top 10 credit card issuers
  • 6 of the top 10 technology companies
  • 4 of the top 5 domestic airlines
  • 3 of the top 5 gaming companies
  • 3 of the top 5 brokerage firms

Lastly, Acxiom has won a number of honors, including recognition by Fortune and Computerworld as one of the best places to work in the United States.

Channels

Acxiom’s main channel is its direct sales team. The company promotes its offerings through its website, social media pages, advertising, and participation in webinars and conferences.

Customer Relationships

Acxiom’s customer relationship is primarily of a personal assistance nature. The company’s employees work closely with clients as they deliver its services.

Key Activities

Acxiom’s business model entails designing, developing, and delivering its services to customers.

Key Partners

Acxiom maintains alliances with entities that supply or access data and technologies; specific types of partners are as follows:

  • Media companies
  • Developers
  • Brands
  • Data Providers

Specific partners include AT&T Adworks, Cisco, Comcast, eBay, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, and Yahoo.

Key Resources

Acxiom’s main resources are its human resources, who include the technology employees that design and develop its services and the sales employees that promote them.

Cost Structure

Acxiom has a value-driven cost structure, aiming to provide a premium proposition through significant personal service and frequent service enhancements. Its biggest cost driver is cost of revenues, a variable expense.

Other major drivers are in the areas of sales/marketing, administration, and research/development, all fixed costs.

Revenue Streams

Acxiom has one revenue stream: revenues it generates from the sale of its services to customers. Sales typically occur through the formation of long-term contracts.

Our team

Scott Howe,
President and CEO

info: Scott earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Princeton University adn an MBA at Harvard University. He previously served as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Advertising Business Group and as President and Interim CEO of King of the Web.

Warren C. Jenson,
EVP and Chief Financial Officer

info: Warren earned an undergraduate degree in Accounting and a Master of Accountancy at Brigham Young University. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Silver Spring Networks. He also acts as President of Acxiom International.

Jerry C. Jones,
EVP, Assistant Secretary, and Chief Ethics and Legal Officer

info: Jerry earned a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and a JD at the University of Arkansas. He previously served as an attorney at the Rose Law Firm for 19 years and as a Co-Founder of uhire U.S.

Sheila Colclasure,
Chief Privacy Officer and Global Executive of Privacy and Public Policy

info: Sheila earned a Master’s degree in Communications, specializing in Business and Political Communication. She previously worked at the U.S. Senate and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.