Alterian launches new enterprise marketing software platform

Alterian, the leading global enterprise marketing platform provider, announced today the official release of the Alterian Marketing Services Platform. The Alterian Marketing Services Platform is the first to incorporate three key marketing functions – database, digital and now operational marketing – at both the database and application level. For marketers, this represents the first time design, planning, multi-channel execution, as well as reporting and analysis can be executed as part of one workflow and using a common user interface. The Alterian Marketing Services Platform is designed to meet the requirements of today's businesses, in which marketing is taking on an increasingly strategic role. The Platform aids in achieving greater customer centricity and process optimization to provide compelling competitive and cost advantages. "The launch of Alterian’s software platform marks the culmination of many years of hard work, including a full year of platform development and around $10m in recent acquisitions to ensure all the right skill sets were in place,” said David Eldridge, CEO, Alterian. "A major milestone in our roadmap, the new platform will help us, along with our partners, to lead the next phase of development in integrated marketing.” While current marketing suites claim integration, others simply bundle multiple stand-alone applications. The Alterian platform empowers marketers by managing all data, campaign planning and design, multi-channel execution, reporting and analytics through an intuitive and highly visual interface, designed for marketers by marketers. Its user friendliness and total control also appeal to marketing companies, agencies, system integrators and end users, as well as marketing services providers. "Industry standard marketing suites simply don’t deliver the results sought by today's marketer,” explained Jason McNamara, CMO, Alterian. "As marketers look to enhance their capabilities, and the demands on them increase, the need arises to acquire further tools which results in new applications to learn, multiple user interfaces to navigate and additional data silos being created. Over time, these ‘suites’ actually leave the organization with a more complex customer data problem than originally started with.” The Alterian Marketing Services Platform is the first marketing solution that incorporates an integrated set of applications into one data architecture. Every application within the new platform shares data, business rules and assets. No data silos are created. Marketers can plan, create, execute and report through one interface that crosses all channels, departments and global offices. Additionally, the integration of Alterian’s marketing operations product (traditionally known as Marketing Resource Management – MRM), allows them to offer a broad set of operational functions to address the key areas of planning and budgeting, creating and distributing marketing programs and content, and measuring and optimizing performance. The development and launch of Alterian’s platform is at the right time for business as a whole. Marketing is maturing, and its role in the strategic operations of the business is expanding. While still accountable for traditional brand building, marketing is now driving business model and market strategy, product and service offerings, customer loyalty and organic growth plans. As companies evolve from mass marketing to customer-driven marketing, the focus is shifting from creative to analytical. This expanded role also makes marketing the next target for enterprise business process reengineering, and the Alterian Marketing Services Platform streamlines and creates cost efficiencies throughout marketing functions. It also provides accountability data to justify spend and decision-making. Gartner states that "the third generation [of marketing automation] focuses on enterprise marketing management (EMM) to ensure that all marketing areas are aligned...to meet corporate goals and objectives by effectively supporting programs that drive organic growth. EMM provides a platform for internal and external process integration that blends ‘art’ and ‘science’.”1 "Alterian is the natural match to champion and create this all-encompassing platform,” stated Eldridge. "After all, Alterian has driven innovation in database and analytically led marketing. The leap to enterprising marketing was a logical one. We had the requisite data layer tools and expertise, plus marketing insight in place to make it work.” About Alterian Alterian (LSE: ALN) helps marketers improve results through its enterprise marketing software platform and global partner community of leading marketing service providers, agencies and systems integrators. Alterian takes marketers on a journey to become analytically led and to integrate their marketing processes, creating value for both the customer and the company. By combining database, digital, and operational marketing applications on a shared data infrastructure, the Alterian Marketing Services Platform makes it practical and cost effective for marketers to gain insight into their data, and use this to execute an integrated marketing strategy across online and offline channels. Software alone does not enable better marketing. Alterian has cultivated a global community of over 70 marketing service providers, agencies and systems integrators such as Accenture, Acxiom, Allant Group, Carlson Marketing, Experian, Epsilon, InfoUSA, Merkle, Ogilvy One and Euro RSCG Worldwide, who deliver Alterian software alongside their own value-added services. These solutions empower market leaders like Princess Cruises, General Motors, Zurich, HSBC, Limited Too, Dell, Amnesty International and Vodafone, to drive competitive advantage through improved marketing performance and customer satisfaction. Alterian was founded in 1997 and trades on the London Stock Exchange (ALN). With offices throughout North America and Europe, Alterian software is used in over 20 countries worldwide. For more information visit www.alterian.com. 1Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit, "The Next Generation of Marketing: Enterprise Marketing Management" by Kimberly Collins, March 7-8, 2007.