For Customer Intelligence Professionals

Creating A Customer Contact Governance Council

Successful Contact Strategies Require Cross-Functional Support

by Suresh Vittal, Dave Frankland, September 10, 2009

An enterprisewide contact strategy is an important key to success for the marketing organization. Optimal contact strategies help marketers reduce contact fatigue, lower opt-out rates, reduce costs, and embrace customer centricity. But most marketers . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The Future Of The eCommerce Platform

Dropping The "E" In eCommerce

by Brian K. Walker, May 18, 2009

eCommerce has come into its own as a key channel for both direct-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B), and platform solutions to enable them have followed suit. But eCommerce continues to evolve quickly. With the channel increasingly being at the . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Campaign Management Needs A Reboot

The Next Generation Must Simplify Use And Support Multiple Channels

by Suresh Vittal, April 2, 2009

Marketers find that current campaign management tools — while good for defining communications in traditional channels like direct mail and email — struggle to keep up with numerous digital, inbound, and emerging channels. The economic slowdown forces . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

A Framework For Multicampaign Attribution Measurement

A Framework For Measurement

by John Lovett, February 19, 2009

Multicampaign attribution has the capacity to demonstrate value from indirect revenue-generating initiatives and quantify their impact within the context of the overall marketing mix. According to 275 Web site decision-makers surveyed in 2008, a full . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Optimizing Customer Retention Programs

by Suresh Vittal, October 20, 2008

Managing customer churn continues to flummox direct marketers. They struggle to define, target, or properly value customers. But increasingly marketers are turning to predictive analytics to power retention programs. Uplift modeling is an emerging technique . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Marketing Best Practices Adoption

by William Band, January 10, 2008

We surveyed 73 business and technology decision-makers and influencers to discover their strengths and weaknesses compared to 22 marketing best practices capabilities. We found that adopting marketing best practices challenges many organizations. In fact, . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: Siebel Succeeds With Broad Functionality

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

Siebel Systems, a Strong Performer in our Forrester Wave ™ evaluation of enterprise marketing platforms, provides the broadest functionality in the market. But, with the ink on Oracle's acquisition of Siebel still wet, a lot of uncertainties exist . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: SSA Global Excels At Interaction Management

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

SSA Global acquired Epiphany in August 2005, rounding out its ERP capabilities with Epiphany's full suite of CRM functionality. Today, SSA Marketing Suite provides best-in-class interaction management tools, well-integrated analytics, and a solid campaign . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: Unica Offers The Leading Solution For B2C Marketers

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

The only Leader in our Forrester Wave™ evaluation of enterprise marketing platforms, Unica is tops because of its strong campaign management and usability. Unica also has the strongest strategic vision in the market and is focused on building out . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: Teradata's Next Release Will Improve Its Standing

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

Teradata CRM (TCRM) version 5.1 has strong functionality for analytics and customer segmentation, but the application focuses only on direct marketing. Teradata is dependent on its own RDBMS, and the application lacks functionality such as interaction . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: SAS Successfully Integrates Analytics And Campaign Management

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

In our Forrester Wave™ evaluation of enterprise marketing platforms, SAS finishes as a midrange Strong Performer. SAS's Customer Intelligence suite incorporates several functional applications, including Marketing Automation, Marketing Optimization, . . .

Enterprise Marketing Platforms: Aprimo Shines With Marketing Resource Management

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q1 2006

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

Aprimo provides best-in-class tools for managing marketing activities and assets. But its customer data infrastructure, segmentation, and analysis capabilities are notably weak, particularly given the requirements of direct-to-consumer firms. Aprimo intends . . .

The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Marketing Platforms, Q1 2006

Unica Leads The Pack, While Siebel Is Best For B2B In Our Lab-Based Evaluation

by Elana Anderson, February 3, 2006

More than three out of four marketers say that marketing needs a comprehensive, integrated application suite to improve its effectiveness. Forrester refers to this broader suite as the Marketing Technology Backbone, and we call its application layer the . . .

Scorecard Summary: E.piphany's E.6

by Eric Schmitt, Elana Anderson, Sharyn Leaver, Tamara Mendelsohn, October 30, 2003

E.piphany's campaign management capabilities are solid, and its marketing analytics are best-in-class. The product's unique architecture simplifies administration and interface usability but won't appeal to most experienced database marketing teams.

Scorecard Summary: Siebel's Marketing 7.5.3

by Eric Schmitt, Elana Anderson, Sharyn Leaver, Tamara Mendelsohn, October 30, 2003

Siebel's marketing applications offer two key strengths: a powerful analytics platform and deep links to its suite of operational CRM modules. But the current release isn't yet ready to satisfy the advanced segmentation requirements of many high-end consumer . . .

E.piphany Forges Ahead With E.6

by Eric Schmitt, Ted Schadler, April 29, 2002

Over the past 30 days, E.piphany has been shipping pieces of its E.6 CRM suite, including major upgrades, to all three marketing modules. The release reflects the vendor's commitment to its historical sweet spot in analytical marketing, but make no mistake: . . .

Scorecard Summary: Chordiant's Marketing Director Suite v 3.2

by Eric Schmitt, Ted Schadler, April 4, 2002

Chordiant has a long track record in marketing automation and an exceptionally large installed base in Europe. Its product's greatest strengths are its campaign design interface and integration features; its analytical and email capabilities have gaps.

Scorecard Summary: E.piphany's E.5.03

by Eric Schmitt, Ted Schadler, April 3, 2002

E.piphany's E.5.03 includes a well-integrated suite of analytical and campaign management features. The product is an especially good fit for firms that don't already have a marketing datamart or those that require sophisticated email and Web-based features.

Scorecard Summary: Unica's Affinium Suite 2.0

by Eric Schmitt, Ted Schadler, April 3, 2002

Unica's Affinium marries a broad set of analytical tools to a capable campaign management tool. The product is an especially good fit for experienced direct marketing teams able to use the suite's sophisticated segmentation and modeling features.

Scorecard Summary: Protagona's Ensemble v 5

by Eric Schmitt, Ted Schadler, April 1, 2002

Protagona's Ensemble offers a well-balanced combination of analytics and campaign management features in an unobtrusive technical package. The product has been minimally globalized, and there are some visible seams between its modules.

Campaign Management Vendors Take On 'Privacy Management'

by Erin Kinikin, April 10, 2001

Leading business-to-consumer (B2C) companies must strike the right balance between useful customer communication and privacy concerns or lose the benefits of collecting the information in the first place.