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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017

OR

For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission file number 0-13163

ACXIOM CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(501) 342-1000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes [X]      No [  ]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

Yes [  ]      No [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes [X]      No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes [X]      No [  ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Yes [  ]        No [X]

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sale price of the registrant’s Common Stock, $.10 par value per share, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market was approximately $1,768,143,599. (For purposes of determination of the above stated amount only, all directors, executive officers and 10% or more shareholders of the registrant are presumed to be affiliates.)

The number of shares of Common Stock, $.10 par value per share, outstanding as of May 22, 2017, was 78,507,559.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (“2017 Proxy Statement”) of Acxiom Corporation (“Acxiom,” the “Company,” “we”, “us”, or “our”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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Among the factors that may cause actual results and expectations to differ from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are the following:

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With respect to the provision of products or services outside our primary base of operations in the United States, all of the above factors apply, along with the difficulty of doing business in numerous sovereign jurisdictions due to differences in scale, competition, culture, laws and regulations.

Other factors are detailed from time to time in periodic reports and registration statements filed with the SEC.  The Company believes that it has the product and technology offerings, facilities, associates and competitive and financial resources for continued business success, but future revenues, costs, margins and profits are all influenced by a number of factors, including those discussed above, all of which are inherently difficult to forecast.

In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements and such risks, uncertainties and assumptions speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, or any other change based on the occurrence of future events, the receipt of new information or otherwise , except to the extent otherwise required by law.

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Across these segments, we leverage a common set of technical capabilities, each of which delivers increasing value with scale.  We provide the largest number of integrations to marketing platforms and data providers in the digital marketing ecosystem, enabling our clients to innovate through their preferred choice of technology, data, and services providers. Our industry-leading recognition and data assets power best-in-class consumer identification and linking with the highest level of accuracy.  And, our expertise in data stewardship enables us to process large volumes ethically and securely in accordance with regional data protection requirements. 

Together, our products and services form the “power grid” for data, the critical foundation for people-based marketing that brands need to engage consumers across today’s highly fragmented landscape of channels and devices.

Industry Trends

Overwhelming Complexity in Digital Marketing Ecosystem

Marketing has evolved significantly in recent years driven by rapid innovation and an explosion of data, channels, devices, and applications. Historically, brands interacted with consumers through a limited number of channels, with limited visibility into the activities taking place. Today, companies interact with consumers across a growing number of touchpoints, including online, social, mobile and point-of-sale. The billions of interactions that take place each day between brands and consumers create a trove of valuable data that can be collected and analyzed. However, most companies are unable to cut through the complexity to effectively harness and leverage this data.

Increasing Fragmentation

Today, customer journeys span multiple channels and devices over time, resulting in data silos and fragmented identities. As consumers engage with brands across various touchpoints – over the web, mobile devices and applications, by email and television, and in physical stores – they may not be represented as single unique individuals with complex behaviors, appearing instead as disparate data points with dozens of different identifiers. Becky Smith who lives at 123 Main Street may appear as beckys@acme.com when she uses Facebook, becky@yahoo.com when she signs into Yahoo Finance, cookie 123 when she browses msn.com, cookie ABC when she browses aol.com, and so on. As a result, marketers struggle to understand the cross-channel, cross-device habits of consumers and the different steps they take on their path to conversion. More specifically, data silos and fragmented identities prevent brands from being able to resolve all relevant data to a specific individual; this poses a challenge to formation of accurate, actionable insights about a brand’s consumers or campaigns.

Marketing Waste

Every day, brands spend billions of dollars on advertising and marketing, yet many of the messages they deliver are irrelevant, repetitive, mistimed, or simply reach the wrong audience. In addition, as the marketing landscape continues to grow and splinter across a growing array of online and offline channels, it is increasingly difficult to attribute marketing spend to a measurable outcome, such as an in-store visit or sale. Wasted marketing spend is largely driven by the fragmented ecosystem of brands, data providers, marketing applications, media providers, and agencies that are involved in the marketing process, but operate without cohesion. Without a common understanding of consumer identity to unify otherwise siloed data, brands are unable to define accurate audience segments and derive insights that would enable better decision making.

Heightened Privacy and Security Concerns

Diligence in the areas of consumer privacy and security is and will continue to be paramount. Consumer understanding of the benefits of marketing technology often lags the pace of innovation, inspiring new

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demands from government agencies and consumer advocacy groups across the world. These factors compound the liability every company faces when managing and activating consumer data.

The New Era of People-Based Marketing

Historically, marketers were forced to cast a wide net to reach a desired audience. They might, for example, have run a television commercial during a specific program or placed generic advertising alongside certain types of web content, often exposing their message to millions of consumers outside their target audience. Today, however, rich data opens the door to granular audience targeting and better, more engaging customer experiences. For example, digital publishers like Facebook and Twitter now provide marketers with the ability to target very specific audiences – males, over the age of 30, who live in zip code 94123, and own pets, for instance.

Consumers are demanding personalization, and every piece of marketing content served has the potential to be individually relevant, addressable, and measurable. By understanding which devices, email addresses, and postal addresses relate to the same individual, marketers can deliver seamless experiences as consumers engage a brand across touchpoints. At the same time, by targeting consumers at the individual level, organizations can reduce marketing waste and more easily attribute their marketing spend to actual results.

People-Based Marketing is Complex and Challenging to Navigate

Innovation has fueled the growth of a highly-fragmented technology landscape, forcing brands to contend with thousands of marketing technologies and data silos. To make every customer experience relevant across channels and devices, organizations need a data foundation and common network that can break down those silos, make data portable, and accurately recognize people throughout the customer journey. Marketing is becoming more audience-centric, automated, and optimized. However, a number of important factors make people-based marketing in the digital era complex and challenging to navigate:

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Acxiom: Solutions That Power People-Based Marketing

Our products and services provide the data foundation brands need to power people-based marketing. We make it safe and easy to activate, validate, enhance, and unify data, enabling marketers to deliver relevant messages at scale and link their campaigns to actual results. We help our clients generate higher return on investment and drive better customer interactions and experiences.

As noted above, Acxiom has three business segments, each helping our clients address the inherent challenges associated with people-based marketing in a digital era.

Connectivity

As shown in the illustration below, our Connectivity segment enables our clients to build an omni-channel view of the customer and activate that understanding across the marketing ecosystem.

Through integrations with more than 500 leading digital marketing platforms and data providers, we have become a key point of entry into the digital ecosystem, helping our clients eliminate data silos and unlock greater value from the marketing tools they use every day. We provide a foundational identity resolution layer enabling our clients to identify and reach consumers across channels and measure the impact of marketing on sales, using the marketing platform of their choice.

Today, our primary Connectivity offering is LiveRamp IdentityLink™, an identity resolution service that ties data back to real people and makes it possible to onboard that data for people-based marketing initiatives across digital channels. Leveraging AbiliTec® and the LiveRamp identity graph, IdentityLink first resolves a client’s first-, second-, and third-party, exposure, and transaction data to persistent anonymous consumer identifiers that represent real people in a privacy-safe way. This omni-channel view of the consumer can then be onboarded to and between any of the 500 plus partners in our ecosystem to support targeting, personalization and measurement use cases.

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IdentityLink operates in an Acxiom SafeHaven® certified environment with technical, operational, and personnel controls designed to ensure our clients’ data is kept private and secure.

IdentityLink is sold to brands and the companies brands partner to execute their marketing including marketing technology providers, data providers, publishers and agencies.

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Audience Solutions

Our Audience Solutions segment helps clients validate the accuracy of their data, enhance it with additional insight, and keep it up to date, enabling clients to reach desired audiences with highly relevant messages. Leveraging our recognition and data assets, clients can identify, segment, and differentiate their audiences for more effective marketing and superior customer experiences. Audience Solutions’ offerings include InfoBase®, our large consumer data store that serves as the basis for Acxiom’s consumer demographics products, and AbiliTec, our patented identity resolution technology that assists our clients in reconciling and managing variations of customer identity over time and across multiple channels.

By identifying and linking multiple identifiers and data elements back to a persistent ID, our clients are able to create a single view of the customer, which allows them to perform more effective audience targeting and deliver better, more relevant customer experiences.

Marketing Services

Our Marketing Services segment helps clients unify data at the individual level in a privacy-safe environment, so they can execute people-based marketing campaigns, tie back to real results, and drive a continual cycle of optimization. We help architect the foundation for data-driven marketing by delivering solutions that integrate customer and prospect data across the enterprise, thereby enabling clients to establish a single view of the customer. We also support our clients in navigating the complexities of consumer privacy regulation, making it easy and safe for them to use innovative technology, maintain choice in channels and media, and stay agile in this competitive era of the consumer. These services allow our clients to generate higher return on marketing investments and, at the same time, drive better, more relevant customer experiences.

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Our Marketing Services segment includes the following service offerings: Marketing Database Services and Strategy and Analytics. The Marketing Services segment also included Impact Email Platform and Services until the disposition of the business in August 2016.

Together, these products and services form the “power grid” for data that brands need to perform people-based marketing. We provide integrations with the largest number of marketing platforms and data providers in the digital marketing ecosystem, enabling our clients to innovate through their preferred choice of technology, data, and services providers.

Our industry-leading recognition and data assets power best-in-class consumer identification and linking across channels and devices. And, our integrated services offering provides the expertise required to manage large sets of data legally, ethically, securely, and in a way that protects consumer privacy. 

Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include core capabilities that enable brands to execute effective people-based marketing.

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Growth Strategy

While the terms “big data” and “data management platforms,” or “DMPs,” have recently become more common, for more than 45 years, Acxiom has been a thought leader and innovator in solving large-scale data problems and improving marketing results for our clients. Key elements of our growth strategy include:

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Privacy Considerations

The growth of the online advertising and e-commerce industries are converging, with consumers expecting a seamless experience across all channels, in real time.   This challenges marketing organizations to balance the deluge of data and demands of the consumer with responsible, privacy-compliant methods of managing data internally and with advertising technology intermediaries. 

We have policies and operational practices governing Acxiom’s use of data that we believe reflect leading best practices and actively promote a set of effective privacy guidelines for digital advertising and direct marketing via all channels of addressable media, e-commerce, risk management and information industries as a whole.  We remain certified under the European Union (“EU”)-U.S. Safe Harbor and are preparing for its potential replacement, the EU-US Privacy Shield.  We also are operating as applicable under EU model contract clauses and contractually comply with other international data protection requirements in an effort to ensure our continued ability to process information across borders. We have a dedicated team in place to oversee our compliance with the privacy regulations that govern our business activities in the various countries in which we operate. 

The U.S. Congress continues to debate privacy legislation, and there are many different types of privacy legislation pending at the state level. In all of the non-U.S. locations in which we do business, laws and regulations governing the collection and use of personal data either exist or are being contemplated.

We expect the trend of enacting and revising data protection laws to continue and that new and expanded privacy legislation in various forms will be implemented in the U.S. and in other countries around the globe.  We are supportive of legislation that codifies the current industry guidelines of meaningful transparency for the individual and appropriate choices regarding whether information related to that individual is shared with independent third parties for marketing purposes. We also support legislation requiring all custodians of sensitive information to deploy reasonable information security safeguards to protect that information.

Clients

Our client base consists primarily of Fortune 1000 companies and organizations in the financial services, insurance, information services, direct marketing, retail, consumer packaged goods, technology, automotive, healthcare, travel and communications industries as well as in non-profit and government sectors.  We seek to maintain long-term relationships with our clients, many of which typically operate under contracts with initial terms of at least two years.  We have historically experienced high retention rates among our clients.

Our ten largest clients represented approximately 36% of our revenues in fiscal year 2017 but no single client accounted for more than 10% of our revenues as a whole.   

Sales and Marketing

The process of buying marketing services has become more complex and therefore requires a more collaborative decision process between client and provider.  As such, our approach to sales and marketing is strategy-led and client-intimate.  Utilizing a proprietary maturity model, we employ both a diagnostic approach, guided by gaps between a client’s current and desired state, and a prescriptive approach, focused on proven solutions and approaches to close those gaps.

Our sales teams focus on new business development across all markets – sales to new clients and sales of new lines of business to existing clients, as well as revenue growth within existing accounts.  We organize our client relationships around industry verticals, as we believe that understanding and speaking to the nuances of each industry is the most effective way to positively impact our clients’ businesses.

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Our partner organization focuses on enabling key media partners, agencies and software providers who can help drive value for our clients or who benefit from using Acxiom for data, analytics and audience management.

The focus of our marketing efforts is to disseminate our thought leadership.  We do this by promoting topical points of view across multiple touch points and by fueling our sales efforts with prescriptive insights.

Research and Development

Research and development expense was $82.1 million in fiscal 2017, compared to $74.2 million in fiscal 2016, and $74.2 million in fiscal 2015.  Management expects to maintain investment spending at similar levels in fiscal 2018.

Competition

Competitors for our Connectivity services are typically also members of our partner ecosystem, creating a paradigm where co-opetition is the norm. Our primary competitors are companies that sell data onboarding as part of a suite of marketing applications or services. Walled gardens that offer a direct interface for matching CRM data compete for a portion of our services, particularly amongst marketers that have not yet adopted in-house platforms for programmatic marketing or attribution. Some providers of tag management, data management, and cross-device marketing solutions have adopted positioning similar to our Connectivity business and compete for mindshare. 

Our traditional competitors for our Audience Solutions and Marketing Services offerings have been database marketing services providers. We find that the competitive landscape is becoming more complex and now includes a range of players. Our primary competitors tend to be database marketing services providers, data companies and data distributors. In-house IT departments provide a secondary source of competition for portions of our offerings. Other types of companies such as technology consultants, business process outsourcers, analytics consultants, and management consultants participate to a lesser extent in portions of our market space.

Different types of competitors have different core competencies and assets that they bring to bear. We compete for both broad-based and specific solutions. Our competitors can vary depending on the type of solution we are competing for. Generally, competition is based on the quality and reliability of the offering, whether the strategy will deliver the desired business results for the client, historical success and market presence. Competition for more granular offerings is based on variables that are more specific. With regard to data products, for example, we compete with two types of firms: data providers and list providers. Competition is based on the quality and comprehensiveness of the information provided, the ability to deliver the information in products and formats that our clients need, and, to a lesser extent, pricing.

In local markets outside the United States, we face both global players as well as local market players. Local market players vary between those offering a range of services and those who may compete with us in more limited areas, such as for data products or data integration services.

We continue to focus on levers to increase our competitiveness   and   believe that investing in the product and technology platform of our business is a key to our continued success. Further, we believe that enabling a broad partner ecosystem will help us to continue to provide competitive differentiation.

Seasonality and Inflation

Although we cannot accurately determine the amounts attributable to inflation, we are affected by inflation through increased costs of compensation and other operating expenses.  If inflation were to increase over the low levels of recent years, the impact in the short run would be to cause increases in costs, which we would attempt to pass on to our clients, although there is no assurance that we would be able to do so.  Generally, the effects of inflation in recent years have been offset by technological advances, economies of scale and other operational efficiencies.

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Our traditional direct marketing operations typically experience their lowest revenue in the first quarter of the fiscal year, with higher revenue in the second, third, and fourth quarters.  To minimize the impact of these fluctuations, we continue to seek long-term arrangements with more predictable revenues.

Pricing

Given the diverse nature of the markets and industries in which our clients operate, we deploy a number of pricing techniques designed to yield acceptable margins and returns on invested capital.  In our Marketing Services segment, the majority of revenue is generated from highly customized, outsourced solutions in which prices are dictated by the scope, complexity, nature of assets deployed and service levels required. These solutions are generally provided under long-term contracts and our revenue consists primarily of recurring monthly billings, and to a lesser extent, other volume and variable based billings. In our Audience Solutions segment, revenue is generated from licensing fees, which are typically in the form of recurring monthly billings, as well as transactional revenue based on volume or one-time usage. In addition, Audience Solutions generates digital data revenue from certain publishers and addressable television providers in the form of revenue-sharing agreements. Finally, our Connectivity segment primarily generates revenue from monthly recurring subscription fees sold on an annual basis. To a lesser extent, it also generates revenue from data providers and certain digital publishers  in the form of revenue-sharing agreements. Examples of Acxiom pricing techniques are value based recurring revenue models, transactional models, subscription or license models, and professional services models, among others.

Employees

Acxiom employs approximately 3,260 employees (associates) worldwide.  No U.S. associates are represented by a labor union or are the subject of a collective bargaining agreement.  To the best of management’s knowledge, approximately 15 associates are elected members of work councils or trade unions representing Acxiom associates in the European Union.   Acxiom has never experienced a work stoppage, and we believe that our employee relations are good.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

Acxiom’s executive officers, their current positions, ages and business experience are listed below.  They are elected by the board of directors annually or as necessary to fill vacancies or to fill new positions.  There are no family relationships among any of the officers or directors of the Company.

Scott E. Howe , age 49, joined the Company in 2011 as its Chief Executive Officer and President.  He currently serves on and chairs the Executive Committee of the Company’s board of directors.  Prior to joining Acxiom, he served as corporate vice president of Microsoft Advertising Business Group from 2007–2010.  In this role, he managed a multi-billion dollar business encompassing all emerging businesses related to online advertising, including search, display, ad networks, in-game, mobile, digital cable and a variety of enterprise software applications.  In 2010, he co-founded and served as interim CEO and president of King of the Web, Inc., a portfolio of online game shows.  Mr. Howe was employed from 1999–2007 as an executive and later as a corporate officer at aQuantive, Inc. where he managed three lines of business, including Avenue A|Razorfish (a leading Seattle - based global consultancy in digital marketing and technology), DRIVE Performance Media (now Microsoft Media Network), and Atlas International (an adserving technology now owned by Facebook).  Earlier in his career, he was with The Boston Consulting Group and Kidder, Peabody & Company, Inc.  He previously served on the boards of Blue Nile, Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE), a leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Center for Medical Weight Loss.  He is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where he earned a degree in economics, and he holds an MBA from Harvard University.

Warren C. Jenson , age 60, is the Company’s Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President.  He also serves as President of Acxiom International.  He joined Acxiom in 2012 and is responsible for all aspects of Acxiom’s financial management and the Company’s business operations outside the United States.  Prior to joining Acxiom, he served as COO at Silver Spring Networks, a successful start-up specializing in smart grid networking technology, where he had responsibility for the company’s service delivery, operations and manufacturing organizations.  From 2002 - 2008 he was CFO at Electronic Arts Inc., a leading global

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interactive entertainment software company.  He has more than 30 years of experience in operational finance and has been CFO of some of the most important success stories of the last two decades including Amazon.com, NBC and Electronic Arts.  In addition, he was twice designated one of the “Best CFOs in America” by Institutional Investor magazine, and he was also honored as Bay Area Venture CFO of the Year in 2010.  He also has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions and in the development and formulation of strategic partnerships.  His board experience includes Digital Globe (NYSE: DGI), Tapjoy, and Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.  Mr. Jenson received both an undergraduate degree in accounting and a Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University.

Jerry C. Jones , age 61, is the Company’s Chief Ethics and Legal Officer, Executive Vice President & Assistant Secretary.  He joined Acxiom in 1999 and oversees legal and privacy matters. He also assists in the strategy and execution of mergers and alliances and the Company’s strategic initiatives.  Previously, he was employed for 19 years as an attorney with the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, representing a broad range of business interests.  He is a member of the board of directors of Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGYS), a leading developer and marketer of proprietary enterprise software, services and solutions to the hospitality and retail industries, where he serves on the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.  He also serves on the board of directors of Heifer International and on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Board of Visitors, and is a co-founder of uhire U.S.  He is a Special Advisor to the Club de Madrid, an organization composed of over 100 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from more than 60 democratic countries.  He was a member of the board of directors of Entrust, Inc. until it was purchased by private investors in 2009 and is former chairman of the board of the Arkansas Virtual Academy.  Mr. Jones holds a juris doctorate degree and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas.

Richard E. Erwin , age 50, joined Acxiom in 2015 as President and General Manager of Acxiom’s Audience Solutions Division and is responsible for driving the strategy, growth and profitability of Acxiom’s industry-leading data products and services.  With over two decades in the data-driven marketing industry, he is a leading voice in the field of omnichannel marketing and an outspoken advocate for the value of data in the global economy.  Prior to joining Acxiom, Mr. Erwin spent 10 years at the large global information company Experian, most recently as president of the Consumer Insights and Targeting Division of Experian Marketing Services.  During his tenure, he led the turnaround and growth of seven legacy data and analytics businesses and established the company as a force in the digital marketing services industry.  Prior to Experian, he held numerous senior management roles in his 12-year career at RR Donnelley.   He is a director of the Internet Advertising Bureau, and a founding director of the IAB’s Data Center of Excellence.  He is also highly active as a board trustee of Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  He is a past vice chairman and treasurer of the Data Marketing Association (DMA), and a past board director at Chicago Youth Centers and RevSpring, Inc.  Mr. Erwin received a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University (Kellogg) and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Michigan State University. 

S. Travis May , age 29, is President and General Manager of Acxiom's Connectivity Division. He is responsible for all aspects of the Connectivity line of business, which includes the LiveRamp Connect product suite in the digital marketing ecosystem. He joined Acxiom in 2014 through its acquisition of LiveRamp, Inc. and initially served as Senior Vice President of Products, overseeing all product management for Acxiom. Prior to joining Acxiom, Mr. May was Vice President at LiveRamp, where he led product, partnerships, and business operations from the company's early ideational stages through its acquisition. Prior to LiveRamp, Mr. May was co-founder and CEO of Campus Venture Network, Inc., a software-as-a-service platform for business plan competitions acquired by the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation in 2009. He graduated with  Phi Beta Kappa  and  magna cum laude  honors with degrees in economics and mathematics from Harvard College.

Dennis D. Self , age 51, is President and General Manager of Acxiom's Marketing Services Division.  He joined Acxiom in 2013 and provides strategic leadership to the teams that serve Acxiom’s Marketing Services clients, including Sales and Account Management, Strategy Consulting and Analytical Services, Product Management and Engineering, and Delivery and Operational Services.  As a member of Acxiom’s Executive Committee, he helps execute on the Company’s overall strategic imperatives. Previously, Mr. Self was Senior Vice President for the Marketing Services Delivery organization and Chief Information Officer for Acxiom.  Prior to joining Acxiom, he served as Vice President and CIO at Gilead Sciences, Inc. from 2011-2013. Prior

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to Gilead Sciences, Inc. he served as CIO at Electronic Arts for four years.  His previous experience includes serving as an IT strategy consultant for Deloitte Consulting, HP, A.T. Kearney and Andersen Consulting.  Mr. Self holds a bachelor of science degree in Management Information Systems from Old Dominion University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Terilyn Juarez Monroe , age 50, is the Company’s Chief People & Culture Officer, Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She joined Acxiom in 2015.  In her role, she oversees areas that drive a high performing culture including: Talent Acquisition and Development, Total Rewards, Organization and Talent Performance, Associate Relations, Engagement, Community Relations/Philanthropy, and HR Operations.  In 2015, Ms. Monroe was named one of the Top 50 Global Diversity Professionals in Industry by The Economist , a list that recognizes the achievements of individuals who have made the practice of diversity and inclusion a focus of their careers. Prior to joining Acxiom, Ms. Monroe served as Intuit’s Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Engagement which included oversight for the Intuit Foundation. During Ms. Monroe’s 13-year tenure at Intuit, she developed a breadth and depth of experience resulting from rotational assignments and increasing leadership and business partnership responsibilities across most areas of HR. She also sat on several organization boards and task forces throughout her tenure. Prior to joining Intuit she worked for Nortel Networks, Bay Networks, Amdocs and Amdahl in the areas of executive communication and coaching, strategic business planning, mergers and acquisitions, community relations, learning and development, employee communications, and global events management. Ms. Monroe graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor of arts in public relations and a minor in business. 

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increased, and government agencies and security experts have warned about the growing risks of hackers, cyber criminals and other potential attacks targeting information technology systems.  Such third parties could attempt to gain entry to our systems for the purpose of stealing data or disrupting the systems.  Third parties may also attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information to gain access to our customers’ data or our data, including intellectual property and other confidential business information.  We believe we have taken appropriate measures to protect our systems from intrusion, but we cannot be certain that advances in criminal capabilities, discovery of new vulnerabilities in our systems and attempts to exploit those vulnerabilities, physical system or facility break-ins and data thefts or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology protecting our systems and the information we possess.  

Furthermore, we face increasing cyber security risks as we receive and collect data from new sources, such as social media, and as we and our customers continue to develop and operate in cloud-based information technology environments.  In the event that our protection efforts are unsuccessful and we experience an unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or the security of such information or our systems are compromised, we could suffer substantial harm.  Any breach could result in one or more third parties obtaining unauthorized access to our customers’ data or our data, including personally identifiable information, intellectual property and other confidential business information.  Such a security breach could result in operational disruptions that impair our ability to meet our clients’ requirements, which could result in decreased revenues.  Also, whether there is an actual or a perceived breach of our security, our reputation could suffer irreparable harm, causing our current and prospective clients to reject our products and services in the future and deterring data suppliers from supplying us data.  Further, we could be forced to expend significant resources in response to a security breach, including repairing system damage, increasing cyber security protection costs by deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, and litigating and resolving legal claims, all of which could divert the attention of our management and key personnel away from our business operations.  In any event, a significant security breach could materially harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our customers, suppliers and other partners are primarily responsible for the security of their information technology environments, and we rely heavily on them and other third parties to supply clean data content and/or to utilize our products and services in a secure manner. Each of these third parties may face risks relating to cyber security, which could disrupt their businesses and therefore materially impact ours. While we provide guidance and specific requirements in some cases, we do not directly control any of such parties’ cyber security operations, or the amount of investment they place in guarding against cyber security threats. Accordingly, we are subject to any flaw in or breaches to their systems, which could materially impact our business, operations and financial results.

Changes in legislative, judicial, regulatory, or cultural environments relating to information collection and use may limit our ability to collect and use data.  Such developments could cause revenues to decline, increase the cost and availability of data and adversely affect the demand for our products and services.

In the U.S., the US Congress and state legislatures, along with federal regulatory authorities have recently increased their attention on matters concerning the collection and use of consumer data.  The regulatory framework for privacy issues worldwide is currently evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future.  The occurrence of unanticipated events often rapidly drives the adoption of legislation or regulation affecting the use of data and the manner in which we conduct our business.  Restrictions could be placed upon the collection, management, aggregation and use of information, which could result in a material increase in the cost of collecting certain kinds of data.  In all of the non-U.S. locations in which we do business, legislation restricting the collection and use of personal data already exists or is presently contemplated.  For example, on April 14, 2016, the European Parliament formally adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), which will establish a new framework for data protection in Europe when it becomes effective in May 2018.  The GDPR will impose more stringent operational requirements for entities processing personal information, such as stronger safeguards for data transfers to countries outside the European Union (“EU”), reliance on express consent from data subjects (as opposed to assumed or implied consent), a right to require data processors to delete personal data, and stronger enforcement authorities and mechanisms.  Between now and the time that the GDPR becomes effective, we may need to modify our

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platform or our business to comply with new requirements contained in the GDPR or to address client concerns relating to the GDPR, and any such measures may result in costs and expenses, and any failure to achieve required data protection standards may result in lawsuits, regulatory fines, or other actions or liability, all of which may harm our operating results.  In the U.S., non-sensitive data about a consumer is generally usable under current rules and regulations so long as the person does not affirmatively “opt-out” of the collection of such data.  In Europe, the reverse is true.  If the European “opt-in” model were to be adopted in the U.S., less data would be available and the cost of data would be higher.  Decreased availability and increased costs of information could adversely affect our ability to meet our clients’ requirements and could result in decreased revenues.   In addition to government regulation, privacy advocacy and industry groups may propose new and different self-regulatory standards that either legally or contractually apply to us or our clients.

In addition, with regard to transfers of personal data from our employees and clients from the EU to the U.S., we historically have relied upon adherence to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Safe Harbor Privacy Principles and compliance with the U.S.-EU and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks agreed to by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EU and Switzerland, which established a means for legitimizing the transfer of personal data by U.S. companies from the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), to the United States.  The U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework was invalidated in October 2015 by a decision of the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ Ruling”). Because of the ECJ Ruling, the Swiss data protection regulator has questioned the status of the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework. Further, a potential replacement for the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, is still under negotiation and though we anticipate the final result to be materially similar to the invalid U.S.-EU Safe Harbor program, it is not yet clear what the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield will require or whether it will formally become effective.  In light of these matters, we are engaging in measures designed to legitimize our transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States, and may find it necessary or desirable to make other changes to our personal data handling. We may be unsuccessful in establishing legitimate means for our transfer of personal data from the EEA or otherwise responding to the ECJ Ruling, and we may experience reluctance or refusal by current or prospective European clients to use our solutions. Our response to the ECJ Ruling may cause us to assume additional liabilities or incur additional expenses for implementing compliance requirements, and the ECJ Ruling and our response could adversely affect our billings. Additionally, we and our clients may face a risk of enforcement actions by data protection authorities in the EEA until the time, if any, that personal data transfers to us and by us from the EEA are legitimized under applicable EU data protection law.

Because the interpretation and application of privacy and data protection laws, regulations and standards are uncertain, it is possible that these laws, regulations and standards may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data management practices or the technological features of our solutions. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, investigations, lawsuits and other claims and proceedings, it may be necessary or desirable for us to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our software, which could have an adverse effect on our business. We may be unable to make such changes or modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or any actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations, standards and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and harm our business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, standards and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our clients may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our platform. Privacy concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our platform particularly in certain industries and foreign countries.

Unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry could adversely affect our business and operating results.

With the growth of online advertising and e-commerce, there is increasing awareness and concern among the general public, privacy advocates, mainstream media, governmental bodies and others regarding marketing, advertising, and privacy matters, particularly as they relate to individual privacy interests and the global reach of the online marketplace.   See “Item 1. Business – Privacy Considerations” in this Form 10-K.  Any unfavorable publicity or negative public perception about us, our industry or even our competitors can affect our business and results of operations, and may lead to additional regulatory scrutiny or lawmaking that

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affects us or our industry.  For example, in recent years, consumer advocates, mainstream media and elected officials have increasingly and publicly criticized the data and marketing industry for its collection, storage and use of personal data.  This public scrutiny may lead to general distrust of our industry, consumer reluctance to share and permit use of personal data and increased consumer opt-out rates, any of which could negatively influence, change or reduce our current and prospective clients’ demand for our products and services and adversely affect our business and operating results. 

Industry consolidations may increase competition for our products and services, which could negatively impact our financial condition and operating results.

We compete against numerous providers of products and services in several separate markets.  See “Item 1. Business - Competition” in this Form 10-K.   Since we offer a larger variety of products and services than many of these competitors, we have been able to successfully compete.  However, the dynamics of the marketplace would be significantly altered if several of these providers were to combine with each other to offer a wider variety of products and services that more directly compete with our portfolio of products and services. If our competitors were to combine forces to create a single-source provider of multiple products and services to the markets in which we compete, we could experience increased price competition, lower demand for our products and services, and loss of market share, each of which could negatively affect our operating results.

Significant system disruptions, loss of data center capacity or interruption of telecommunication links could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our business is heavily dependent upon highly complex data processing capability.  Our ability to protect our data centers against damage or interruption from fire, flood, tornadoes, power loss, telecommunications or equipment failure or other disasters and events beyond our control is critical to our continued success.  The online services we provide are dependent on links to telecommunication providers.  We believe we have taken reasonable precautions to protect our data centers and telecommunication links from events that could interrupt our operations.  Any damage to our data centers or any failure of our telecommunications links that causes loss of data center capacity or otherwise causes interruptions in our operations, however, could materially adversely affect our ability to quickly and effectively respond to our clients’ requirements, which could result in loss of their confidence, adversely impact our ability to attract new clients and force us to expend significant resources to repair the damage.  Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Each of our business segments is subject to substantial competition from a diverse group of competitors.  New products and pricing strategies introduced by these competitors in the markets where our products and services are offered could decrease our market share or cause us to lower our prices in a manner that reduces our operating margin and the profitability of our products.

Each of our business segments faces significant competition in all its offerings and within each of its markets.  See “Item 1. Business - Competition” in this Form 10-K.   Our competitors include database marketing services providers, DMPs (Data Management Platforms), data companies and data distributors, some of whom may have significantly greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources allocated to serving customers.  Other types of companies such as technology consultants, business process outsourcers, analytics consultants and management consultants participate to a lesser extent in portions of our market space.  Additionally, we compete with the in-house IT departments of some of our existing and prospective clients that have developed or are developing the in-house capacity to perform the services we provide.  Maintaining technological competitiveness in our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services, continually improving our current processes, and developing and introducing new products and services are necessary to maintain our competitive position.  If we fail to do so, we could lose clients to current or future competitors, which could result in decreased revenues, net income and earnings per share. 

The resources we allocate to each market in which we compete vary, as do the number and size of our competitors across these markets.  These competitors may be in a better position to develop new products and pricing strategies that more quickly and effectively respond to changes in customer requirements in these markets.  Some of our competitors may choose to sell products or services competitive to ours at lower prices

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by accepting lower margins and profitability, or may be able to sell products or services competitive to ours at lower prices given proprietary ownership of data, technical superiority or economies of scale.  Such introduction of competent, competitive products, pricing strategies or other technologies by our competitors that are superior to or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services could adversely affect our business.  In such event, we could experience a decline in market share and be forced to reduce our prices, resulting in lower profit margins for the Company.

Engagements with certain clients, particularly those with long-term, fixed price agreements, may prove to be costlier than anticipated, thereby adversely impacting future operating results.

The pricing and other terms of our client contracts, are based on estimates and assumptions we make at the time we enter into these contracts.  These estimates reflect our best judgments regarding the nature of the engagement and our expected costs to provide the contracted services and could differ from actual results.  Any increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of these engagements, including delays caused by factors outside our control, could make these contracts less profitable or unprofitable, which would have an adverse effect on our profit margin.  Our exposure to this risk increases generally in proportion to the scope of the client contract and is higher in the early stages of such a contract.   Our failure to meet a client’s expectations in any type of contract may result in an unprofitable engagement, which could adversely affect our operating results and result in future rejection of our products and services by current and prospective clients.

The failure to recruit and retain qualified personnel could hinder our ability to successfully manage our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and operating results. 

Our growth strategy and future success depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain technical, client services, sales, consulting, research and development, marketing, administrative and management personnel. The complexity of our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services requires highly trained professionals.  While we presently have a sophisticated, dedicated and experienced team of associates who have a deep understanding of our business and in many cases have been with Acxiom for decades, the labor market for these individuals has historically been very competitive due to the limited number of people available with the necessary technical skills and understanding, compensation strategies, general economic conditions and various other factors.  As the business information and marketing industries continue to become more technologically advanced, we anticipate increased competition for qualified personnel.  The loss or prolonged absence of the services of highly trained personnel like the Company’s current team of associates, or the inability to recruit and retain additional, qualified associates, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position or operating results. 

Processing errors or delays in completing service level requirements could result in loss of client confidence, harm to our reputation and negative financial consequences.

Processing errors, or significant errors and defects in our products, can be harmful to our business and result in increases in operating costs.  Such errors may result in the issuance of credits to clients, re-performance of work, payment of damages, future rejection of our products and services by current and prospective clients and irreparable harm to our reputation.  Likewise, the failure to meet contractual service level requirements or to meet specified goals within contractual timeframes could result in monetary penalties or lost revenue.  Taken together, these issues could result in loss of revenue and decreases in profit margins as service and support costs increase.

Data suppliers may withdraw data that we have previously collected or withhold data from us in the future, leading to our inability to provide products and services to our clients, which could lead to a decrease in revenue and loss of client confidence.

Much of the data that we use is either purchased or licensed from third-party data suppliers, and we are dependent upon our ability to obtain necessary data licenses on commercially reasonable terms.  We compile the remainder of the data that we use from public record sources.  We could suffer material adverse consequences if our data suppliers were to withhold their data from us, which could occur either because we

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fail to maintain sufficient relationships with the suppliers or if they decline to provide, or are prohibited from providing, such data to us due to legal, contractual, privacy, competition or other economic concerns.  For example, data suppliers could withhold their data from us if there is a competitive reason to do so, if we breach our contract with a supplier, if they are acquired by one of our competitors, if legislation is passed restricting the use or dissemination of the data they provide or if judicial interpretations are issued restricting use of such data.  Additionally, we could terminate relationships with our data suppliers if they fail to adhere to our data quality standards.  If a substantial number of data suppliers were to withdraw or withhold their data from us, or if we sever ties with our data suppliers based on their inability to meet our data standards, our ability to provide products and services to our clients could be materially adversely impacted, which could result in decreased revenues, net income and earnings per share.

A failure in the integrity or a reduction in the quality of our data could harm our brand and result in a loss of revenue and an increase in legal claims.

The reliability of our solutions depends upon the integrity and quality of the data in our database.  A failure in the integrity of our database, whether inadvertently or through the actions of a third party, or a reduction in the quality of our data could harm us by exposing us to client or third-party claims or by causing a loss of client confidence in our solutions. We may experience an increase in risks to the integrity of our database and quality of our data as we move toward real-time, non-identifiable, consumer-powered data through our Enterprise Data Management Platform. We must continue to invest in our database to improve and maintain the quality, timeliness and coverage of the data if we are to maintain our competitive position and retain our clients’ confidence.  Failure to do so could result in significant harm to our reputation and growth prospects, as well as a loss of revenue.

The loss of a contract upon which we rely for a significant portion of our revenues could adversely affect our operating results. 

Our ten largest clients represented approximately 36% of our revenues in fiscal year 2017, but no single client accounted for more than 10% of the revenues of the Company as a whole.  The loss of, or decrease in revenue from, any of our significant clients for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our revenue and operating results.

While a significant amount of our total revenue is currently derived from clients who have long-term contracts (defined as contracts with initial terms of two years or more), these contracts have been entered into at various times, and some of them are in the latter part of their terms and are approaching their originally scheduled expiration dates.  In addition, many of these contracts contain provisions allowing the client to terminate prior to the end of the term upon giving advance notice.  Even if renewed by these clients, the terms of the renewal contracts may not have a term as long as, or may otherwise be on terms less favorable than, the original contract.  Revenue from clients with long-term contracts is not necessarily “fixed” or guaranteed as portions of the revenue from these clients is volume-driven or project-related.  With respect to the portion of our business that is not under long-term contract, revenues are even less predictable and are almost completely volume-driven or project-related.  Therefore, we must engage in continual sales efforts to maintain revenue stability and future growth with all our clients or our operating results will suffer.  If a significant client fails to renew a contract, or renews the contract on terms less favorable to us than before, our business could be negatively impacted if additional business were not obtained to replace or supplement that which was lost.

Acquisition and divestiture activities may disrupt our ongoing business and may involve increased expenses, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals contemplated at the time of a transaction, all of which could adversely affect our business and growth prospects.

Historically, we have engaged in acquisitions to grow our business. To the extent we find suitable and attractive acquisition candidates and business opportunities in the future, we may continue to acquire other complementary businesses, products and technologies and enter into joint ventures or similar strategic relationships.  While we believe we will be able to successfully integrate newly acquired businesses into our existing operations, there is no certainty that future acquisitions or alliances will be consummated on acceptable terms or that we will be able to integrate successfully the services, content, products and personnel of any such transaction into our operations.  In addition, any future acquisitions, joint ventures or

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similar relationships may cause a disruption in our ongoing business and distract our management.  Further, we may be unable to realize the revenue improvements, cost savings and other intended benefits of any such transaction.  The occurrence of any of these events could result in decreased revenues, net income and earnings per share.

We have also divested assets in the past and may do so again in the future.  As with acquisitions, divestitures involve significant risks and uncertainties, such as:

Because acquisitions and divestitures are inherently risky, transactions we undertake may not be successful and may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

Our balance sheet includes significant amounts of goodwill, and we have experienced goodwill impairment charges in the past. The impairment of a significant portion of this asset would negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Goodwill is a significant portion of our total assets. Goodwill accounted for approximately 48% of the total assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2017. We may not realize the full carrying value of our goodwill. Goodwill is measured and tested for impairment on an annual basis in the first quarter of the Company’s fiscal year and between annual tests if an event occurs or changes in circumstances suggest a potential decline in the fair value of goodwill. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indicator or change in circumstances relating to impairment has occurred. If testing indicates that impairment has occurred, we would be required to write off the impaired portion of goodwill, resulting in a change to our earnings. An impairment of a significant portion of goodwill could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

Our business is directly dependent upon and correlates closely to the marketing levels and ongoing business activities of our existing clients.  If material adverse developments in domestic and global economic and market conditions adversely affect our clients’ businesses, our business and results of operations could equally suffer.

We serve clients from locations in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. Our client list includes many of the largest organizations in these regions across most major industry verticals, including but not limited to financial, insurance and investment services, automotive, retail, telecommunications, high tech, healthcare, travel, entertainment, non-profit and government.  Our results of operations are affected directly by the level of business activity of our clients, which in turn is affected by the level of economic activity in the industries and markets that they serve.   Future widespread economic slowdowns in any of these markets, particularly in the United States, may negatively affect the businesses, purchasing decisions and spending of our clients and prospective clients, which could result in reductions in our existing business as well as our new business development.  In the event of such widespread economic downturn, we will likely experience a reduction in current projects, longer sales cycles, deferral or delay of purchase commitments for our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services, and increased price competition, all of which could adversely affect our revenue and operating results.

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Our operations outside the U.S. are subject to risks that may harm the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations. 

During the last fiscal year, we received approximately 8% of our revenues from business outside the United States.  The cost of executing our business plan in non-U.S. locations is increasingly expensive.  In those non-U.S. locations where legislation restricting the collection and use of personal data currently exists, less data is available and at a much higher cost.  In some foreign markets, the types of products and services we offer have not been generally available and thus are not fully understood by prospective clients.  Upon entering these markets, we must educate and condition the markets, increasing the cost and difficulty of successfully executing our business plan in these markets.  Additionally, each of our foreign locations is generally expected to fund its own operations and cash flows, although periodically funds may be loaned or invested from the U.S. to the foreign subsidiaries.  Because of such loan or investment, exchange rate movements of foreign currencies may have an impact on our future costs of, or future cash flows from, foreign investments.  We have not entered into any foreign currency forward exchange contracts or other derivative instruments to hedge the effects of adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Additional risks inherent in our non-U.S. business activities generally include, among others, potentially longer accounts receivable payment cycles, the costs and difficulties of managing international operations, potentially adverse tax consequences, and greater difficulty enforcing intellectual property rights.  The various risks which are inherent in doing business in the U.S. are also generally applicable to doing business outside of the U.S., but such risks may be exaggerated by factors normally associated with international operations, such as differences in culture, laws and regulations, especially restrictions on collection, management, aggregation and use of information.  Failure to effectively manage the risks facing our non-U.S. business activities could materially adversely affect our operating results.

In addition, when operating in foreign jurisdictions, we must comply with complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and other local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials, as well as anti-competition regulations and data protection laws and regulations. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines and penalties, criminal sanctions, restrictions on our business conduct and on our ability to offer our products and services in one or more countries.  Such violations could also adversely affect our reputation with existing and prospective clients, which could negatively impact our operating results and growth prospects.

Our products and services have long and variable sales cycles due to their nature as enterprise-wide solutions.  Failure to accurately predict these sales cycles could impair our ability to forecast operating results, which could result in a decline in the market value of our stock.

When purchasing our products and services, our clients and prospects are often faced with a significant commitment of capital, the need to integrate new software and/or hardware platforms across multiple business units and other changes in company-wide operational procedures, all of which result in cautious deliberation and evaluation by prospective clients, longer sales cycles and delays in completing transactions.  Additional delays result from the significant up-front expenses and substantial time, effort and other resources necessary of our clients to implement our solutions.  For example, depending on the size of a prospective client’s business and its needs, a sales cycle can range from two weeks to nine months.   Because of these longer sales cycles, revenues and operating results may vary significantly from period to period.  As a result, it is often difficult to accurately forecast our revenues on a quarterly basis as it is not always possible for us to predict the quarter in which sales will actually be completed.  This difficulty in predicting revenue, combined with the revenue fluctuations we may experience from quarter to quarter, can adversely affect and cause substantial fluctuations in our stock price.

Third parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property and we could suffer significant litigation or licensing expenses or be prevented from selling products or services. Additionally, third parties may infringe our intellectual property and we may suffer competitive injury or expend significant resources enforcing our rights.

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claim that one or more of our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights. We analyze and take action in response to such claims on a case-by-case basis. Any dispute or litigation regarding patents or other intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming due to the complexity of our technology and the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation, which could divert the attention of our management and key personnel away from our business operations. A claim of intellectual property infringement could force us to enter into a costly or restrictive license agreement, which might not be available under acceptable terms or at all, or could subject us to significant damages or to an injunction against development and sale of certain of our products or services. 

Our proprietary portfolio consists of various intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, database rights, source code, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, confidentiality provisions and licensing arrangements.  The extent to which such rights can be protected varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If we do not enforce our intellectual property rights vigorously and successfully, our competitive position may suffer which could harm our operating results.

Our brand and reputation are key assets and competitive strengths of our Company, and our business may be adversely affected if events occur that could cause us to be negatively perceived in the marketplace.

For over 45 years, Acxiom has been a thought leader and innovator in solving large-scale data problems and improving marketing results through high-performance, highly scalable, highly secured and privacy-compliant marketing solutions, with a track record of building strong technology and being an innovator in the marketing services space.  Our brand and reputation earned over these years are key assets of the Company.  Our ability to attract and retain clients is highly dependent upon the external perceptions of our level of data quality, our ability to deliver consumer insights, our enterprise data management and analytical capabilities, the competence of our current associate team, and our ability to meet contractual service level requirements in a timely manner.  Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters could damage our reputation with prospective clients and the public generally. Adverse developments with respect to our industry may also, by association, negatively impact our reputation, or result in higher regulatory or legislative scrutiny. Any damage to our brand or reputation could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Failure to recover significant, up-front capital investments required by certain client contracts could be harmful to the Company’s financial condition and operating results.

Certain of our client contracts require significant investment in the early stages, which we expect to recover through billings over the life of the contract.  These contracts may involve the construction of new computer systems and communications networks or the development and deployment of new technologies.  Substantial performance risk exists in each contract with these characteristics, and some or all elements of service delivery under these contracts are dependent upon successful completion of the development, construction and deployment phases.  Failure to successfully meet our contractual requirements under these contracts over their life increases the possibility that we may not recover our capital investments in these contracts.  Failure to recover our capital investments could be detrimental to the profitability of the particular engagement as well as our operating results.

The decline in direct mail business could occur more rapidly than we are able to offset with new revenues from investments in new products and services, which could, in turn, negatively impact revenue, net income and profit margins. 

Postal rate increases are expected to continue.  As postal costs continue to rise, we expect to see increased pressure on direct mailers to leverage digital and other forms of online communication and to mail fewer pieces.  The concerns of direct mailers are further exacerbated by the on-going financial struggles of the United States Postal Service (“USPS”).  In recent years, the USPS has incurred significant financial losses and may, as a result, implement significant changes to the breadth or frequency of its mail delivery.  USPS cost cutting measures have included, among other things, consolidation of USPS’s mail processing network and changes to USPS’s service standards for market-dominant mail products.  These ongoing changes are expected to increase mail processing time and slow delivery frequency, which in turn may decrease

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marketers and the general public’s willingness to continue to use traditional mail, which may negatively impact our direct mail clients and thus the Company’s revenue derived from our traditional direct marketing business.  Additionally, those in the traditional direct mail business, as well as the USPS, are under growing pressure to reduce their impact on the environment.  It is uncertain at this time what either marketers or the USPS will do to lessen their impact.  From a postal service perspective, the actions to be taken may involve changing certain aspects of mail service that would negatively affect direct marketers.  From a marketer’s perspective, such actions could have the same effect as increased rates, thereby causing them to mail fewer pieces, which may negatively impact the Company’s revenue derived from our traditional direct marketing business.  

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Holders

As of May 22, 2017, the approximate number of record holders of the Company’s common stock was 1,926.

Dividends

The Company has not paid dividends on its common stock in the past two fiscal years.  The Board of Directors may consider paying dividends in the future but has no plans to pay dividends in the short term. 

Performance Graph 

The graph below matches Acxiom Corporation's cumulative 5-Year total shareholder return on common stock with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index and the NASDAQ Computer & Data

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Processing index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from 3/31/2012 to 3/31/2017.

The performance graph and the related chart and text, are being furnished solely to accompany this Annual Report on Form 10-K pursuant to Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K, and are not being filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of ours, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing. The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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The repurchases listed above were made pursuant to a repurchase program adopted by the Board of Directors on August 29, 2011.  That program was subsequently modified and expanded, most recently on July 28, 2016.  Under the modified common stock repurchase program, the Company may purchase up to $400.0 million of its common stock through the period ending June 30, 2018. Through March 31, 2017, the Company had repurchased 16.8 million shares of its stock for $285.7 million, leaving remaining capacity of $114.3 million under the stock repurchase program.

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