3 UK has signed a 5-year, £18m deal with IBM, who will provide the mobile operator with a business intelligence managed service and cross-channel marketing campaign management solution. Using analytics technology designed to deliver deeper insight into trends throughout the entire customer base, 3 says it will aim to build increased loyalty amongst its 8.2m customers by creating a more personalised and customer-centric service.

3 will use IBM technologies, including Unica Campaign software delivered through IBMs Smarter Commerce initiative, to gain a better understanding of what trends are driving service usage. The operator will then use this insight to make its marketing campaigns more effective.

The IBM solution will help 3 move beyond simple forecasting by enabling it to predict how certain products and services will resonate with a specific customer demographic. The new solution is designed to allow the operator to run multiple, concurrent marketing campaigns which will assist in its goal to double its customer base within the next few years.