ADVO Teams With Polk to Offer Web Targeting Solution

Windsor, CT-based direct mailer ADVO Inc. has partnered with The Polk Co. to deliver ads to consumers promoting Web sites.

The new arrangement lets companies on the Internet target their ads to ADVO’s ATZs (ADVO Targeting Zones), niche consumer clusters of about 3,500 households each, based on the number of consumers in each cluster that own or use high-tech products.

The consumer data is derived from Polk’s High-Tech Connect database, which contains over 24 million records. ADVO can also use the Polk data to target clients’ ads by ZIP Codes or even to entire markets nationwide. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.

“Many traditional retailers are now also selling online, while Internet-only merchants are quickly gaining new ground,” said Rick Kurz, ADVO’s senior vice president of strategic business development. “Our new arrangement with Polk makes our proprietary ATZ distribution program even smarter and more aligned with retailers’ evolving needs. We can now use various levels of targeting to help deliver customers to our clients’ brick and mortar stores as well as their ‘virtual’ ones, in a single, efficient purchase.”