The chief customer officer role is an entirely new one at Chase,
said Mr. Suther.
"Chase is one of the great institutions of the world. The way
data and information is going, first-party data is king. They have
a combination of a great institution and great leadership with
information-rich assets and a commitment to putting them to use to
serve customers better. It's a compelling proposition," Mr. Suther
said.
Mr. Suther is no stranger to the financial services industry.
Before joining Acxiom, he had a three-year stint with Metavante, a
banking industry services provider that developed payment products
such as electronic bill payments. Transaction processing firm
Fidelity National Information Services acquired Metavante in
2009.
The financial services industry is regulated more heavily than
others, but Mr. Suther suggested it won't be a significant change
for him. "The financial services world has compliance conditions
that Acxiom does not, but both companies know the power of [privacy
and brand reputation]," he said.
Earlier this year The Wall Street Journal
reported that Chase had begun to pool its data on customers'
purchase histories with public economic numbers as a way to compile
consumer segments. In February Chase, which
spent $2.58 billion on marketing in 2012, partnered with
Visa on a payments program
called Chase Merchant Services that would enable merchants to
target offers to people with Chase Visa cards. Chase came under
fire two years ago when customers' email addresses were accessed as
part of a larger data breach suffered by third-party data provider
and Acxiom competitor Epsilon.
Mr. Suther stressed that he is leaving Acxiom on good terms and
has already informed the company of his departure. "Acxiom is one
of the preeminent data companies in the world. Their people,
products and strategy are so right on. I'm confident the company is
going to put a dent on the marketing and advertising world," he
said.
Acxiom specializes in helping brands market to people based on
theirs and others' first-party customer data. Earlier this year
Acxiom
partnered with Facebook to allow advertisers to target ads on
the social network based on Acxiom's compiled customer segments,
such as whether someone is a homeowner, spends primarily with cash
or shops at high-end retail stores.
According to Mr. Suther, Acxiom is actively seeking his
replacement.