When we opened in 1999, we took cooperative database marketing to the next level.
I-Behavior opened its doors in 1999 under the chairmanship of the renowned Lester Wunderman. Mr. Wunderman is widely considered the creator of modern-day direct marketing. His innovations include the magazine subscription card, the toll-free 1-800, loyalty rewards programs and many more. He identified, named and defined the term "direct marketing" in a 1967 speech at MIT and was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1998.
Based on these principles, I-Behavior developed the first SKU-level purchase data cooperative that proved that detailed transactional purchase history is the best predictor of future buying habits. I-Behavior expanded this concept in 2006 with the launch of acerno. acerno was the first anonymous online data cooperative that proved how similar marketing principles and analytics can be used in online advertising. acerno grew rapidly and was sold in 2008 to Akamai.
In November 2010, I-Behavior was acquired by KBM Group, to become a member of the WPP organization, the leaders in advertising, digital and relationship marketing, and part of the Wunderman network. This acquisition has not only given I-Behavior the opportunity to add new marketing and data solutions, but also made these solutions available to members of our cooperative. Though we are now a part of something bigger, we will still operate under the I-Behavior name and continue as a true leader in behavioral targeting, linking the predictive power of behavioral data with the underlying attitudes that drive purchase behavior.