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Case Studies
Prospect Identification & Business Development Using the Identify Database’s New Classifications
Ringgold has dramatically improved the capacity for granular institutional analysis with the introduction of New Classifications to the Identify Database. With these nine new pieces of descriptive metadata, users are now able to search and segment Identify with greater specificity than was possible using the original metadata. This means that existing institutional constituents such as licensees or author affiliations can be described in much more detail, and institutions with a similar specific profile identified.
ProQuest has been using Ringgold’s Identify Database for segmentation of their institutional subscriber base and prospect development for some time, and has now incorporated the New Classifications to further enhance this key application.
Zoe Loveland is Senior Director, Academic Segment Planning, at ProQuest. Since the release of the New Identify Classifications in 2015, Zoe has leveraged this additional data from Ringgold to better profile existing customers, explore the wider market for new prospects with similar profiles, and reveal targets in new market segments.
Ringgold’s New Identify Classifications have been really helpful for segmenting and targeting our markets for both existing and new products. I have found the detailed ‘Subjects’, the ‘Level’ and the ‘Economic Model’ especially helpful.
In the past, I employed researchers to do this sort of detailed segmentation work and it was very time consuming. A query that might have taken weeks of data gathering to answer, can now be answered in two minutes! Having better, more specific targets means that the Sales Team is able to work much more effectively and achieve better results.
-Zoe Loveland, ProQuest
Ringgold began the process of expanding its Identify dataset by consulting with customers about the way in which they wanted to more specifically classify the institutional market for the benefit of their business. While the existing Identify Metadata covered location, industry segment, simple subjects, size metrics, and tiers, the increased reliance on highly specific data-driven analysis demanded their expansion. For example, Ringgold clients wanted greater subject specificity: rather than only knowing an institution was involved in medicine, they wanted to verify whether the fields of oncology, radiology, or paediatrics were applicable. Also, clients wanted to be able to definitively segment university systems, departments of study, or the primary campus level. Based upon this feedback, a schema was developed by Ringgold for Identify that included nine new areas of classification, each providing a high degree of granularity.
The New Identify Classifications have now been applied to all records in the Academic sector which apply to colleges and universities (more than 40% of Identify). The new data augments, but does not replace, the existing Identify Metadata, and serves to greatly enhance the depth and utility of the Identify data and increase value for customers.
The nine New Identify Classifications are as follows:
- Economic Model – For Profit, Not for Profit
- Governance– the way the organization is managed
- Reach – geographical scope of the organization
- Mission – what the organization is trying to achieve and what its purpose is
- Subjects – five hierarchical subject levels and over 800 subjects
- Self-Description – how an organization describes itself
- Fixed Hierarchy Level – nine Ringgold levels
- Activity Status– whether an organization is active or not
- Number of Sites – single or multiple
A complete list of all Identify Metadata elements is available, including a taxonomy for the New Identify Classifications. Kindly contact Ringgold for more information.