AZ Direct

What AZ Direct does

AZ Direct AG is a Swiss direct marketing agency headquartered in Cham, Switzerland, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann Marketing Services within the Bertelsmann media conglomerate. The company provides cross-channel marketing services and licensed address data to B2B and B2C clients in Switzerland, with additional specialization in non-profit fundraising via its AZ Fundraising subsidiary. Its core assets are two proprietary databases — AZ Data World Consumer (approximately 7.2 million reachable private customer addresses) and AZ Data World Business (approximately 840,000 business addresses) — supplemented by a 3.8 million email address pool with explicit advertising consent. The company claims the largest cross-channel address reach in Switzerland.

The technology platform is centered on the AZ Data World database, with the consumer database rebuilt end-to-end through the 2021 Santorin project. Product capabilities include address verification, cleansing, enrichment, and deduplication; hyper-local geographic targeting; cross-channel audience linking (AZ Audience Link) that connects the same individual across direct mail, email, phone, display, and social media; customer base analysis and survival/churn analytics; statistical-twin and lookalike audience modeling; and event-triggered audience segments. Distribution combines a self-service online shop (shop.az-direct.ch) for transactional data purchases with a direct enterprise sales motion for integrated campaign execution. The platform integrates with HubSpot for marketing automation, Google Analytics/Ads for digital measurement, and Post CH AG for address deliverability verification.

AZ Direct monetizes through three primary streams: address data licensing (campaign use, annual subscription, and perpetual non-exclusive purchase), cross-channel marketing professional services (strategy, creative, execution, and analytics), and managed email campaign delivery. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with tiered licensing models that shift data-aging risk to the buyer over longer durations. Customers include B2B marketers, B2C consumer brands, non-profit fundraising organizations, credit and business intelligence bureaus, and tourism/hospitality businesses. The company is registered with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner (EDÖB), complies with the revised Swiss Data Protection Act (DSG) effective September 2023, the EU GDPR, the Swiss Unfair Competition Act (UWG), and the SDV Code of Ethics.

Name

AZ Direct

Legal name

AZ Direct AG

Website

https://az-direct.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

AZ Direct AG is a Swiss cross-channel marketing agency and licensed address-data provider serving B2B, B2C, and non-profit clients with proprietary consumer and business databases covering 7.2M+ Swiss private and 840K+ business addresses, enabling multi-channel campaign execution through direct mail, email, phone, display, and social media.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Direct Marketing Services

NAICS

Direct Mail Advertising (54186), Direct Mail Advertising (541860), Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331)

akta.pro primary industry

Direct Marketing, CRM & Lifecycle (Email, SMS, Loyalty) (BPAFAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Direct Response & Database Marketing (Mailing Lists, Data Hygiene) (MPAAAIAK), Lead Generation & List Building Services (Prospecting, Data Sourcing) (BPAFAKAE), Direct Mail Marketing Services (Print, Postcard, Dimensional Mail) (BPAFAKAH), Telesales & Inside Sales Outsourcing (B2B/B2C) (BPAAADAE)

Keywords

• Direct marketing services
• Address data licensing
• Cross-channel marketing
• Customer data analytics
• B2B marketing data

Headquarters

HQ city

Cham

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Address Data Licensing: Licensing of consumer and business address data to marketing clients. Multiple licensing models available: campaign use (single/two-time use), annual use (one-year license), and unlimited purchase (perpetual non-exclusive license). Pricing based on volume, selection criteria, and usage scope.
2. Cross-Channel Marketing Services: Full-service campaign execution across multiple channels including direct marketing, email marketing, direct mail, display advertising, social media marketing, and telemarketing. Services include strategy consultation, campaign planning, creative services, and performance analytics.
3. Email Campaign Management: AZ Direct organizes email campaign delivery through technical partners - clients do not receive email address data directly. AZ acts as intermediary managing sender relationships, opt-in compliance, and campaign execution.
4. Data Analytics and Consulting: Customer analytics services including customer base analysis, segmentation, and market research to help clients understand their existing customers and identify lookalike audiences for new customer acquisition.
5. Fundraising Services: Specialized services for non-profit organizations including donor acquisition, online fundraising, email fundraising, display advertising, social media fundraising, and emergency fundraising campaigns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AZ Direct is a Swiss direct marketing agency that licenses proprietary Swiss consumer and business address data (AZ Data World with ~7.2M private and ~840K business addresses) and executes cross-channel marketing campaigns across direct mail, email, phone, display, social media, and telemarketing. It combines a self-service address shop with consulting, audience targeting, customer analytics, and fundraising services for B2B, B2C, and non-profit clients in Switzerland.

Product overview

AZ Direct is a Swiss direct marketing agency offering a cross-channel marketing platform with two core databases — AZ Data World Consumer (approx. 7.2M private addresses) and AZ Data World Business (approx. 840K business addresses) — accessible via the AZ Address Shop self-service platform. The portfolio comprises targeting and customer insight tools (customer base analysis, survival analysis, geo/hyper-local targeting), cross-channel audience linking services (AZ Audience Link Consumer/Business, AZ Offline-Retargeting, AZ Retail-Booster), address management tools (AZ Adresswerkstatt, address enrichment, AZ Executive Bridge), specialized audience segments (AZ Event Triggers, AZ Life Stages, AZ Solar, AZ Fundraising), communication channels (direct mail, email, display, social, telemarketing), and fundraising solutions (OM by AZ Fundraising, OM Select). The products work together as an integrated data-to-activation ecosystem where address data is used for targeting, analysis, and multi-channel campaign execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AZ Data World Consumer: Database containing addresses and non-sensitive information of private individuals for marketing purposes.
• AZ Data World Business
• AZ Audience Link
• AZ CRM-Reichweite plus

Products and services

• AZ Data World Consumer Database of approximately 7.2 million Swiss private customer addresses with demographic, geographic, household, and psychographic attributes for cross-channel direct and digital marketing; sold to B2C and B2B clients via licensing (campaign, annual, or perpetual use).
• AZ Data World Business Database of approximately 840,000 Swiss business customer addresses with firmographic data (industry, size, age) and decision-maker contacts (functions, titles, names), plus links to private addresses of board members; licensed to B2B clients.
• AZ Address Shop (AZ Adress-Shop) Self-service e-commerce platform for selecting and purchasing company, private, and email addresses, with audience previews and configurable selection criteria across campaign, annual, and perpetual licensing models.
• AZ Audience Link Consumer Cross-channel targeting service connecting private address data across post, email, social, and display for unified B2C consumer outreach.
• AZ Audience Link Business Cross-channel targeting service connecting business address data across post, email, social, and display for unified B2B outreach.
• AZ Offline-Retargeting Retargeting service that uses online behavioral signals (e.g., cart abandoners, product page clicks) to follow up with targeted offline communications via postcard, direct mail, or phone.
• AZ Retail-Booster Retail-focused targeting and campaign service designed to increase foot traffic and sales for retail businesses using cross-channel marketing.
• Customer Base Analysis (Kundenstamm-Analyse) Service that combines a company's own customer data with AZ Direct's address and attribute data to produce a 360-degree view of customers and identify statistical twins for new customer acquisition.
• Survival Analysis Predictive analytics service estimating customer churn and retention likelihood to support lifecycle management and reactivation campaigns.
• AZ Hyper-Local-Targeting Geo-targeting capability enabling advertising delivery in precise geographic areas at multiple precision levels for display, mobile, and offline targeting.
• AZ Executive Bridge Service linking B2B and B2C data to identify private customers who are also business decision-makers, enabling cross-sell and B2B outreach targeting individuals in their professional roles.
• AZ Fundraising Specialized fundraising services for non-profit organizations including donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, online fundraising, email fundraising, Google Ad Grants/SEO, display, social media fundraising, and emergency fundraising, delivered via the az-fundraising.ch platform.
• OM by AZ Fundraising Campaign management platform for non-profit fundraising organizations, enabling multi-channel fundraising campaign planning and execution.
• Cross-Channel Marketing Execution (Direct Mail, Email, Display, Social, Telemarketing) Full-service execution of marketing campaigns across direct mail, email, display/video, social media, and telemarketing channels, coordinated through AZ Direct's cross-channel strategy and audience linking capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Industry-standard error rates: 4% for private addresses, 2% for business addresses, 5% for email addresses
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Swiss Dialogmarketing Verband (SDV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAZ Direct is a member of the Swiss Dialogmarketing Verband (SDV), adhering to the SDV Code of Ethics for direct marketing. This membership requires compliance with SDV guidelines including respecting Robinson list (advertising blacklist) entries and consumer preferences.
• Eidgenössischer Datenschutz- und Öffentlichkeitsbeauftragter (EDÖB)coreOthersAZ Data World data collection is registered with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Commissioner (EDÖB). Compliance with Swiss revised Data Protection Act (effective September 1, 2023) and related regulations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AZ Direct