Tony Sham is managing director of Interactive Direct, which powers and maintains one of the leading opted-in B2B business-marketing databases in the country. With over 210 000 opted in decision makers at all levels of business, the Interactive Direct database has spent over 20 years helping South African businesses grow and expand through focused, on-target email marketing campaigns. Tony Sham began his career as a statistician with AC Nielsen in 1979. Data, research and statistics soon became a passion for him, and he completed his UNISA BMIR Diploma in Marketing and Marketing Research in the mid-80s. In 1991, he ventured out on his own, forming Analogue Marketing Information Services and the Interactive Direct Database, which has grown into one of the leading suppliers of marketing database information to the South African business community.