Lists and Data Sources: A directory of Consumer Lists and Marketing Lists, Ladson House Publishers Ltd, UK

FAQS

2) How many lists are there and how often do they change?

4) How is the directory kept up-to-date?

6) Why use a printed directory? Isn't it much quicker to search for lists on the Internet?

7) I'm a professional marketer. Why haven't I heard of LADS before?

8) Why should we bother with our own research when our list broker will organise our mailing campaign with just a phone call?

9) Do list owners pay to get into LADS?

10) I've got a mailing list... can I get it into LADS?

11) Why are you trying to sell me a two-year subscription? Why can't I buy just one copy of LADS and use that for a few years?

12) What does a sample page look like?

What are the headings? (back to top)

LISTS AND DATA SOURCES categorises the lists under 80 BUSINESS and 33 CONSUMER subject headings, for speed and ease of reference. You can see examples of the actual lists in each subject heading if you click on Accounting.
Subject Headings - August 2004
BUSINESS LISTS	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	BUSINESS LISTS	NUMBER OF ENTRIES
Accounting	23	Pharmaceuticals	35
Advertising	32	Photography	19
Agriculture & Horticulture	53	Plastics & Rubber	10
Animals	41	Politics	17
Antiques	9	Printing, Paper & Packaging	46
Architects	24	Property Services	79
Aviation	18	Publishing - Books	35
Building Materials	55	Publishing - Journals & Periodicals	272
Building Services	161	Recreation, Leisure & Sport	192
Chemicals	18	Religion	17
Cleaning Services	42	Removals, Storage & Warehousing	27
Clothing, Footwear & Accessories	61	Retail	242
Clubs, Associations & Societies	23	Safety, Security & Fire Equipment	46
Communications	82	Scientific & Instrumentation	34
Community & Social Services	123	Shipping & Marine	10
Companies	99	Stationery	18
Computers	154	Surveyors	24
Design	34	Textiles	12
Email	36	Timber & Timber Products	14
Education	113	Travel	39
Electrical & Electronics	67	TV, Radio, Video, Audio Visual& Film	35
Engineering	56	Wholesale	63
Environmental Services	20
Executives & Professionals	119
Exhibitions & Conferences	66	CONSUMER LISTS	NUMBER OF ENTRIES
Financial Services & Investment	115	Animals	27
Food & Drink	88	Art & Antiques	13
Fuel & Power Supplies	24	Charity	43
Furniture & Furnishings	55	Clothing, Footwear & Accessories	78
Gardening	38	Clubs, Associations & Institutes	5
Government Services	117	Computers	43
Hardware	6	Credit Cards	7
Health & Beauty	46	Email	204
Heating & Ventilation	22	Education	21
Hire Services	35	Environmental Services	7
Home Decoration & Improvement	17	Executives & Professionals	112
Hotel & Catering	100	Family	82
Import & Export	17	Finance, Investment & Insurance	189
Insurance	25	Food & Drink	26
International - Africa	14	Gardening & Horticulture	47
International - Europe	46	Health & Beauty	129
International - Far East & Australasia	48	Hobbies	148
International - Latin & South America	1	Holidays & Travel	58
International - Middle East	8	Home Improvements	14
International - USA	23	Household Appliances & Furniture	60
International - Worldwide	22	Household Linen	7
Jewellery & Gifts	22	Housing	25
Legal Services	52	Jewellery & Gifts	26
Libraries	27	Mail Order	143
Management	81	Medicine	16
Manufacturing & Industry	52	Mobile Communications	18
Marketing, Market Research, PR & Sales	89	Motoring	31
Medicine	148	Over Fifties	72
Metals	40	Photography & Video	5
Mining & Minerals	6	Publications & Publishing	197
Motor Trade & Transport	188	Recreation, Leisure & Sport	185
Music	18	Religion	8
Office Supplies & Equipment	38	Business & Consumer Databases	135

How many different listings are there, and how often do they change? (back to top)

The directory has more than 6,000 listings; these are constantly being added to as new list owners submit their lists to us for inclusion. There is also a considerable amount of change each issue as list owners are acquired by their competitors and their lists merged. Finally, many lists change character from issue to issue - numbers go up and down (as do prices), data selection criteria and sources change, or the quality and type of list updating alters. LADS keeps pace with developments and ensures that you have the most up-to-date information available. Over the last two years alone we have added 2,284 new lists and logged 11,944 changes to the lists we carry

How is the directory kept up-to-date? (back to top)

The directory is re-compiled twice a year and published as the 1st and 2nd editions. Immediately prior to publishing each edition we ask the owners and managers of every list to verify and update all their entries. Most do, but (human nature being what it is) some don't. So we always make it completely transparent to users how recently each list has been updated by publishing the last verification date for each list, and we always signal whether significant changes have been made to each entry. (We also signpost brand-new lists.) Our advice is that once you've decided that a particular list might be useful to your marketing campaign, you should always call the list owner or manager to make a final check that the data is exactly what you want.

How is the directory organised? (back to top)

The directory categorises the lists under 80 Business and 33 Consumer subject headings, for speed and ease of reference. It is further divided into two sections within both the Business and the Consumer sections - business databases, business lists, consumer databases and consumer lists.

The directory has comprehensive index for each section to allow you to access the information on your specific area of interest quickly and easily. Each section has the entries listed alphabetically so that you can search the full range of lists available at a glance.

Why use a printed directory? Isn't it much quicker to search for lists on the Internet? (back to top)

For once, the answer is "no". We're great fans of the Internet, but in this case print beats digital hands-down.

Try it for yourself: type in "mailing lists" into Google UK, and what do you get? Just over four million entries. How long would it take you to research that lot? If you decide, for the sake of your sanity, that you'll just research (say) the first three pages, you'll find that most of these web pages are put up by the owners or managers of mailing lists, who are trying to sell you their own lists.

You have no way of knowing whether they are charging above or below the market rate, or whether they have better or poorer lists than their competitors, or whether their data is more or less relevant to your campaign than data being sold by other list owners and managers. So, in order to find out whether you're being offered a good deal, you have to drill down through each web site, find out all the details, note them down - and then go off to the next website and repeat the whole process.

By contrast, comparing lists is a doddle with LADS - there they are, all next to each other on the page, and all laid out in the same format, so you can instantly appreciate the differences between the various offerings.

I'm a professional marketer. Why haven't I heard of LADS before? (back to top)

Good question. Lists and Data Sources is a very long-established publication, which has circulated for 18 years through all levels of the direct mail industry. However, LADS is now under new ownership, and it is blindingly obvious to us that LADS is directly relevant not just to direct mail practitioners but to the entire UK marketing sector - indeed, to any marketing professional who might want to organise a direct mail campaign.

It is our view that LADS has remained a secret well-kept by direct mail insiders for far too long; we think that you will find Lists and Data Sources a real eye-opener, and genuinely excellent value for money.

Why should we bother with our own research when our list broker will organise our mailing campaign with just a phone call? (back to top)

Many brokers do an excellent job, and work conscientiously to help their clients' campaigns. However, at the end of the day a broker can sell you only the lists he or she has access to. When your broker calls back and says "I have just the right list for your campaign", what he or she really means is "I have looked in the lists I have available and have picked the one that seems closest to what you want". Not quite the same, is it?

How do you know for sure that there aren't other - better - lists out there that your broker can't source for you? How do you know that your broker isn't steering you towards the lists that earn him or her the highest commission? How do you know when your broker is sourcing lists through the open market (probably using LADS!) and just sticking a mark-up on top of the price you would pay yourself if you approached the list owner direct? The answer is, you don't.

We're not arguing for a moment that you should abandon your list broker; many have years of hands-on experience, will add value to your campaign, and may well be able to negotiate favourable rates with list owners. What we'd suggest is that you talk to your broker having done some primary research using LADS. Even knowing that you have the latest copy of LADS to hand will keep your broker on his toes!

Do list owners pay to get into LADS? (back to top)

No, listings are absolutely free. This is important, because it means that you can rely on LADS being entirely independent. If list owners had to pay to get into LADS, then inevitably many small or specialist list owners on limited budgets wouldn't put their data into LADS at all... and that means you would lose sight of some of the best-kept mailing lists in the UK.

I've got a mailing list... can I get it into LADS? (back to top)

Yes, you can! Many professional marketing departments are sitting on top of a goldmine of first-rate data which could earn significant revenues if put to work. Give us a call on 08700 629 299!

Why are you trying to sell me a two-year subscription? Why can't I buy just one copy of LADS and use that for a few years? (back to top)

You can buy a single copy if you want, of course you can. But you wouldn't be doing yourself any favours. Mailing lists are highly organic - they grow, they shrink, they die, and new ones are born every month. If you don't keep an up-to-date copy of LADS close to hand, how can you tell if the list you're looking at hasn't been outclassed by new entrants into the market? Suppose you've sourced a list costing 250 a thousand, and use it to send out (say) 10,000 mailshots a year - and suppose that a new list comes out that covers the same data as your old list but costs only 125 a thousand? Unless you can spot the new list using the latest edition of LADS, you'll be unwittingly wasting 1,250 a year...

Typical List Entry (back to top)

LISTS AND DATA SOURCES contains all the information you need to plan your campaign. It is divided into five sections: Consumer databases; Consumer lists; Business databases; Business lists; Register of Direct Marketing Services.

A full list entry in LISTS AND DATA SOURCES provides you with:

	Heading	Example Listing	Explanation
1	Name:	Doctors	The name of the list.
2	Owner:	J S L Ltd Address: 14 High Street, Oxon OX1 4TH Tel: 0111-333000 Fax: 0111-333001 Email: jsl@jsl.co.uk Contact: Joe Smith	Name of its owner/manager. Owner/manager's address; Telephone/Telex/Fax numbers; Email address; Contact name.
3	Description:	List of all doctors practising in the UK.	Unbiased description of the list.
4	Previous users:	Medical and supply companies	Previous users of the list.
5	Source:	Own research	Source of the list (e.g. own research, directory, etc.).
6	Maintenance:	Quarterly	Frequency of maintenance.
7	Quantity:	20,000	Quantity (i.e. numbers of names and addresses).
8	Base price:	100/1000	Base price.
9	Minimum order:	5,000	Minimum order quantity or price.
10	Selections available:	Geographic; Gender; Nth name	Selections available (e.g. age, sex).
11	Options:	Flagging; key coding	Options (e.g. key coding, flagging).
12	Delivery in UK:	5 days	Delivery time within the U.K.
13	Methods of addressing:	Cheshire; Electronic mail; Self-adhesive	Methods of addressing (e.g. self-adhesive labels).
14	Restrictions:	One time use only	Restrictions on use.
15	MPS:	Cleaned	Whether the list is cleaned by the Mailing Preference Service.
16	Third party mailing:	Yes	Whether the list can be used for third party (piggy-back) mailings.
17	LWR:	100000	List Warranty Register number.
18	Verification:	November 2000	Date when owners/managers verified that the information in the directory was correct.

Subject Headings - August 2004

All enquiries: