

Would you pay $1 for this man's data?

Would you pay $1 for this man's data? Alan Chapell

Editor's note: The intent of this article is to promote industry dialogue. Please use the comment feature at the end of the article to participate.

Last month, I wrote a about someone who auctioned off his non-personally identifiable information on eBay. He refers to himself as "Highly Targeted." I call him "Mr. Data."

I was lucky enough to win the auction, and now have over 2MB of Mr. Data's information, including his demographic information (28, Caucasian, Married, Chicago) his web surfing (he visits StarWars.com and Comic-Con.org very frequently) and his purchase information (he appears to be single-handedly keeping American Airlines in business). I also have his email address.

My first article discussed whether the concept of data portability is practical given the current operational and technological limitations of our industry. And while I think we may get there eventually, I don't think we're anywhere near there right now.

This time, I'd like to focus on the other (albeit more crass) side of the story. In other words, now that I have Mr. Data's information, I need to figure out what to do with it. I want to recoup my $100 investment, and hopefully, make a little extra cash to boot.

And that's where you come in.

A modest proposal
Friends, I'm offering each of you a fantastic deal. This is your opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something really special. For the low price of $1, I'll let you get your message out to Mr. Data, too. You can have ALL of his information, and can send as many emails to him as you'd like.

Hello, Expedia? Mr. Data uses Orbitz on a regular basis. Let's get you in there.

Calling on Amazon: Mr. Data has made a bunch of purchases on BN.com. Bring it on!

And let's not forget the B2B play. Mr. Data apparently visits iMediaConnection.com and ClickZ.com on a fairly regular basis, so he must be from the online media industry. Is there some young media rep who wants to take a chance that Mr. Data is a buyer? I thought so!

But wait: there's MORE!
And if you ACT NOW, I'll give you the right to sell this information to anyone you'd like. You'll have the pleasure of getting Mr. Data as a customer AND monetizing his information. It's a win/win, baby!

Just think of all the lead-generation and data companies that you'll be able to sell this information to. A quick stroll through the exhibit hall of any ad:tech show will undoubtedly net you a dozen sales. I guarantee. (Guarantee void in New York and the 49 other states. Also void outside of the United States.)

You may ask: "Is Mr. Data okay with this?"
I'm glad you asked that question. While the original terms of the eBay auction were that I couldn't transfer Mr. Data's information to others, I'm making a NEW deal. And the NEW deal says, "Screw the old deal." I needs to get paid.

After all, business is business, right?

Operators standing by, sort of
Just send an email to [email protected], and I'll let you know how you can take advantage of this life-altering opportunity. And if you ACT NOW, I'll throw in the cell phone number that Mr. Data accidentally gave to me. So you'll not only be able to cluster bomb him with emails, but you can send him SMS messages as well.

First 10 orders come with a set of steak knives….

Who wants in?

Alan Chapell is president of Chapell & Associates, a strategic consulting firm providing business and legal advice to the interactive technology community. .


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