Penton Launches 'Penton SmartReach' Division

NEW YORK, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Penton, a leading professional information services company, today formally announced that it has formed Penton SmartReach™, a division focusing exclusively on the development, management and delivery of targeted data and subscriber information to help direct marketers identify, reach and activate more prospects and generate more effective leads. The database has 16 million business-to-business records, representing 7.8 million unique businesses.  

This division capitalizes on Penton's strengths -- data, user engagement and targeted marketing -- by managing its data in-house instead of outsourcing its subscriber and data information to list vendors as it had done previously. The move represents a significant strategic shift for Penton to enable further innovation, and strengthen its competitive position within a fast-changing data industry. Penton has been aggressively investing capital and human resources in building its deep, rich sets of sophisticated data for digital marketing -- a clear competitive advantage for Penton in the market. Penton SmartReach is led by Joann Kropp, Vice President, Customer Data Solutions.   

"We view this shift as very timely and an opportunity to vastly expand our ability to help endemic and non-endemic direct marketers utilize our highly engaged file," said Warren N. Bimblick, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development. Kropp continues to report to Bimblick. "There is also huge potential to serve the large SMB market in ways that tie in with marketing services programs," added Bimblick. 

"Penton's more nimble and strategic approach to direct marketing puts us closer to clients by offering industry expertise and integrated marketing solutions that create better engagement and deliver better click through rates that list vendor's can't provide," said Kropp, whose career, including more than five years at Penton, includes the successful development of enhanced business intelligence and customer prospecting/marketing products.     

Kropp continued, "Penton's deep industry knowledge and our first-hand understanding of what audiences want is becoming increasingly important to businesses and underscores the value add that SmartReach brings to clients. This is especially true as digital marketing and big data converge and businesses search for the most targeted and granular data to help drive more effective marketing and lead generation. We are advocating programmatic marketing where the marketer engages with the prospect audience based on behavior and targeting."

About the Penton SmartReach™ Database

The Penton SmartReach file is particularly rich in five core sectors: agriculture, transportation, natural products/food, infrastructure, design and manufacturing.   

Penton has been aggressively investing in building its deep self-reported, rich sets of business data for digital marketing – a clear competitive advantage for Penton in the market. Penton's deep industry knowledge and first-hand understanding of what audiences want is becoming increasingly important to businesses. This is especially true as digital marketing and big data converge and businesses search for the most targeted and granular business data to help drive more effective marketing and lead generation. With over 1,000 data points to choose from, Penton's data is a competitive differentiator.

Speaking about the shift in marketing skill sets throughout the digital marketing industry, Kropp said, "Marketers are now required to be technically savvy and analytics driven. Penton has built an experienced in-house team focused on driving maximum value from its data assets, developing data products and marketing solutions, like day-parting, that are based on user habits and strategic marketing tools."   

All-Star Team

Kropp, who joined Penton in 2008, offers over 20 years of direct marketing expertise. She had served as president of the Walter Karl division of infoUSA.

Kropp said, "Our all-star team consists of eleven professionals including Rosalie Garcia who has over 20 years of experience in direct marketing agencies and Toni Cumberbatch, formerly of the Direct Marketing Association, who brings over a decade of integrated, multichannel marketing expertise to the team."

For additional information on Penton SmartReach™, visit www.penton.com/AboutSmartReach or contact Joann Kropp, Vice President, Customer Data Solutions at [email protected] or (212) 204-4225.

About Penton

Penton is a professional information services company. We engage and inform millions of professionals every day, helping them decide how to grow and solve their most critical business challenges. As a leading provider of workflow solutions and insightful content, marketing services and networking via in-person and online events, we help businesses do business. We focus our industry expertise on five core growth markets – agriculture, transportation, natural products/food, infrastructure, and industrial design and manufacturing.

Penton is a growth company with a track-record of strong performance and success and is backed by its co-owners: MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP.

For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.

CONTACT:

Whit Clay
Sloane & Company 
T: 212-446-1864 
[email protected]

PENTON CONTACT:

Kate Spellman
SVP, Marketing
Penton
T: 212-204-4351  
[email protected]

SOURCE Penton