DENVER, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Encore Group LLC (Starz Encore), the
leading provider of movie channels in premium television, has selected
Cohorts' Proof of Concept (POC) service to aid its marketing research and
related customer acquisition activities, with a trial scheduled for
Insight Communications' Louisville, Ky., system.  The POC service will allow
Starz Encore to test Cohorts' ability to assist it in targeting and
communicating more effectively with the customer base, focusing on basic-only
subscribers.
    "Starz Encore has a challenge that many large companies face -- a
potential customer base so diverse and with so many disparate characteristics
that it becomes increasingly challenging to understand their hot buttons,"
said Maro Casparian, vice president of client services for Cohorts.  "Our goal
is to arm Starz Encore with the knowledge it needs to create powerful and
effective marketing strategies that will substantially increase marketing
ROI."
    The Cohorts POC will enable Starz Encore to better understand basic-only
customers -- including their purchasing habits, channel behaviors,
demographics and lifestyles -- and then develop more compelling and effective
marketing messages about its Starz Super Pak hit movie channel offerings.
This is accomplished through market segmentation and versioned messaging.
    "Basic-only customers are attractive targets for Starz Super Pak
programming, because research indicates that 50 percent of basic-only
customers spend significant discretionary income monthly renting movies," said
Jillaina Wachendorf, senior vice president of marketing for Starz Encore
Group.  "We look forward to working with Cohorts during this trial and
building on the research underpinnings that have been the foundation for our
historical growth."
    Based on household-level information, Cohorts divides virtually all U.S.
households into cohesive groups that share distinct demographic, lifestyle and
consumer behavior characteristics.  Unlike aggregated census data, Cohorts
does not assume that every member of a given neighborhood is similar in tastes
and behavior, thereby overcoming the limitations of widely used,
geographically based segmentation methods.
    This marketing to the "household" instead of traditional mass-market
messaging will enable Starz Encore to continue to partner effectively with
affiliates and build on its historical success in selling the Starz Super Pak.
    Cohorts comprises 30 homogenous Cohort segments, which have been given
names that are dramatically over-represented within the respective segments.
Companies using Cohorts get to know their customers as people -- like Jonathan
(elite, single men) and Burt and Marilyn (comfortable, mature couples) -- not
just as clusters of data.
    The POC test package offers a straightforward and low-risk way for
companies to experience the bottom-line benefits of versioning in direct
marketing campaigns by allowing marketers to adapt key findings before
integrating Cohorts across the entire enterprise.  The POC test package
includes:

     --  Cohorts analysis of the client's customer database;
     --  Cohort codes appended to up to 200,000 customer/prospect records for
         one versioned direct marketing test, measured against a control
         (direct mail, e-mail and/or telemarketing);
     --  Recommendations on how to structure the test and develop versioned
         messages for the Cohorts groups;
     --  Use of the 200,000 Cohort-encoded records for analysis for six
         months;
     --  Back-end analysis of the campaign to determine the lift in response
         due to versioning; and
     --  An ROI model to demonstrate the value of Cohorts to the organization.

    Starz Encore Group
    Starz Encore Group LLC (Starz Encore) is the largest provider of cable and
satellite-delivered premium movie channels in the United States, owning 15
domestic channels with approximately 126 million pay units.  Starz Encore
offers the Starz Super Pak(SM), with up to 12 digital movie channels, and
Starz On Demand(SM), the first premium subscription video-on-demand (SVOD)
service. Starz Encore is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media
Corporation (NYSE: L, LMCb).

    About Cohorts(R)
    Cohorts helps clients get the right message to the right household.
By segmenting consumers at the household level, Cohorts improves the
effectiveness and ROI of data-based marketing initiatives and strategies,
accomplished through the humanizing of demographic, lifestyle and consumer
behavior data.  Cohorts enables companies to understand the distinct types of
consumers they serve, identify multi-channel marketing opportunities, create
customized communications and marketing programs, and craft actionable market
research-making Cohorts a totally integrated marketing tool.

    About the Company
    Experienced in database marketing applications, market research and
database development, the Cohorts staff works with leading customer-focused
companies like AT&T Broadband, The Bombay Company, Meredith Corporation,
Marriott Vacation Club International, Cendant, Cablevision, Proflowers.com and
Current, Inc.  The company specializes in a variety of industries, including
retail, financial services, insurance, hospitality and telecommunications.
Cohorts is a registered trademark of Looking Glass, Inc.

    For more information, visit http://www.cohorts.com  or contact Sandy McCray at
Cohorts, 1624 Market St., Suite 311, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 893-8600;
fax (303) 893-8611; or smccray@cohorts.com.

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