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Polk Launches PSYTE(TM) In U.S. Market

6 July 1999

Polk Launches PSYTE(TM) In U.S. Market

  Neighborhood Classification System Used for Targeted Automotive Marketing

    DETROIT, July 6 -- After building a successful history in
Canada, during which it has been used by thousands of clients, The Polk
Company is introducing its PSYTE(TM) product to the U.S. market.  A geo-
demographic neighborhood classification system, PSYTE creates a focused,
accurate picture of consumer behavior and lifestyles that automotive marketers
use to identify additional customer and prospect groups.
    PSYTE combines Polk's extensive automotive data and buyer characteristics
from its detailed consumer database, TotaList(R), with census demographics to
classify neighborhood characteristics (automotive buying patterns, household
income, education, occupation, etc.).  The result is a powerful geo-
demographic classification system that groups neighborhoods, down to the
block-group level, into 65 mutually exclusive clusters.  These clusters are
then used for precise targeted automotive marketing.  PSYTE is the only
classification system available that uses automotive data in defining cluster
characteristics.
    "By building PSYTE around our automotive data, we have created a cost-
effective product that can accurately forecast consumer automotive buying
behavior -- down to the neighborhood level," said Glenn Forbes, Polk's vice
president of business development.  "What PSYTE offers is a powerful, easy-to-
use classification system that will enable marketers at nearly any skill level
to track and predict consumer behavior when it comes to automotive
purchasing."
    PSYTE can also be customized to any area of the country by allowing users
to analyze data on a regional basis, using either standard or customized
geographic definitions.  Its clusters are based on established automotive
buying patterns, lifestyles and demographics, producing a more detailed
classification of consumers.  With its predictive capabilities, PSYTE is an
excellent tool for formulating sales, product and marketing strategies.
    "PSYTE is extremely useful to manufacturers in identifying and locating
prospective customers and determining how to reach them," said Forbes.
"Aftermarket retailers can also use it to profile their current markets and
gain better understanding of market potential.  We believe it is the most
predictive and detailed consumer behavior clustering system available in the
U.S. market today."
    PSYTE analysis is available for customer delivery in four ways:

    *  Polk provides the client with standard and customized research and
analysis;
    *  Polk appends a client's customer information database with PSYTE data
and returns the file to the client ready to use on the client's internal
system;
    *  Polk provides clients with a new turnkey, desktop micromarketing system
from which they can produce their own analysis using the PSYTE data; or
    *  Polk provides clients with the turnkey system combined with customized
analysis based on their individual needs.

    PSYTE features state-of-the-art desktop micromarketing software called
MarketMath5, a Windows 95, 32-bit application with a point-and-click
interface, making it a powerful system that is easy to use.  The combination
of the two products enables users to determine how many more potential
customers there are in the marketplace and create corresponding reports,
charts and maps from a desktop PC.
    Polk provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to
companies as a statistician for the motor vehicle industry; as a direct-
marketing resource; as a supplier of demographic and lifestyle data and
database-marketing services; as a publisher of city directories; and as a data
enabler for geographic information systems.  Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk
is a privately held firm founded in 1870 that is expanding globally, currently
operating in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia,
Spain, Holland and Costa Rica.
    For more information, contact Dan Willis, Polk public relations director,
at 248-728-7827; by pager at 800-406-8457; or by e-mail at
dan_willis@polk.com.  Visit the Polk Web site at http://www.polk.com.