Product overview

Volunteered Personal Information

Published: 01/10/09

We all know the secret of successful communication and service is relevance: the right message/service to the right person at the right time. How companies deliver such relevance is being transformed by the rise of VPI: Volunteered Personal Information.

VPI is information that only the customer knows, and which he could share with you if they see good reason to. It includes ‘changes to my life’ (such as contact details as they happen and not six months later); the context of the individual’s decisions and actions and related ‘reasons why’; and future plans and preferences. None of this information is available from any other source.

VPI represents a challenge to organisations’ information systems because it works in different ways (by definition, it’s based on ‘bottom up’ processes driven by customers rather than ‘top down’ processes driven by the organisation). It requires new levels of trust and transparency. It’s generated across a range of different circumstances, and captured in a range of different ways. At the same time, it’s also a potential answer to many organisations’ most pressing data-related problems: how to keep customer records up-to-date and accurate, how to address ‘information overload’, how to identify the bits of information that really matter – and how to ensure communication and service relevance.

Five years ago, it simply wasn't possible for customers to 'talk' to you on a mass scale.

Today, not only is it possible, it's happening. Brands that fail to seize the potential of volunteered customer information risk being left behind.

This report is designed for marketers, technologist and strategists who need to understand how they can harness VPI - including, the types of feed, their value and the market trajectory. For more about VPI click here.