Annuncio Introduces Web Personalization and Enhanced BtoB Campaign Management

Business Wire, Oct 2, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2000

e-Marketing Platform Drives Customer-Centric Marketing Strategies

that Maximize Relationships Over Time

Annuncio Software(TM) today announced the availability of its e-merchandising and web personalization solution, Annuncio Bright(TM), and enhancements to the company's campaign automation solution, Annuncio Live(TM), including functionality designed specifically for business-to-business marketing. These two applications make up the industry's first e-Marketing Platform, which gives marketers a comprehensive solution for campaign management, e-merchandising and web personalization. Together, these solutions provide global enterprises, both business-to-consumer and business-to-business, with unmatched personalization and coordinated interactions across multiple marketing touch points. With Annuncio's e-Marketing Platform, businesses can deploy customer-centric marketing strategies that maximize relationships over time, thereby driving revenues and profitability.

"Companies in the Internet Economy must rethink the way they market and sell to customers," said Sam Clark, senior research analyst, Application Delivery Strategies, at META Group. "Winning organizations will move beyond one-time customer interactions. Solutions like Annuncio Bright and Annuncio Live are useful for marketers who understand the importance of planning and automating long-term marketing relationship strategies. By tying together campaign management with web site personalization, marketers can proactively develop lasting relationships with their most valuable assets -- their customers -- across a number of touch points."

"We were looking for an e-merchandising solution that could accommodate our seasonal and ongoing fashion changes, and Annuncio Bright fit the bill," said Dilip Parekh, chief financial officer at Jessica McClintock Inc. "With Annuncio Bright, our marketing and merchandising team can dynamically present items that are a great match for our customers' specific interests. For instance, if a bride-to-be selects a bridal gown, the site can automatically propose complementary bridesmaid dresses. Annuncio Bright helps marketers take control of merchandising on the site, easily and with minimal IT assistance, which were key factors in our selection of Annuncio."

"With this announcement, Annuncio is breaking new ground in e-Marketing," said Didier Moretti, president and CEO of Annuncio. "We've thought through the customer lifecycle, and have designed a platform that will elevate customer interactions from one-time experiences to a coordinated marketing strategy that drives intelligent customer interactions and profitable, long-term customer relationships."

The Annuncio e-Marketing Platform and Applications

Today's customers are inundated with varied messages from numerous sources, including direct mail, email, web, telephone, print ads and ad banners. As a result of this lack of planning and coordination, direct mail response and ad banner clickthrough rates are dropping below 1%, and email response rates are declining. To rise above the clutter, organizations must embrace a cohesive strategy for managing customer communications beyond single interactions and plan and customize relationship strategies across multiple marketing touch points.

Annuncio's e-Marketing Platform allows organizations to maximize customer relationships, over time, by developing and automating customer-centric marketing strategies that are based on on-going learning and real-time improvement. The platform provides comprehensive e-marketing functionality to meet the needs of the most demanding marketers and is designed to put control in the marketers' hands, empowering them to control and manage their marketing efforts. It is built on an open, scalable architecture designed for 24x7 reliability. The platform currently includes two applications, Annuncio Bright and Annuncio Live, and will expand over time.

Annuncio Bright - e-Merchandising and Web Personalization

Annuncio Bright is a powerful solution for web personalization and e-merchandising. With Annuncio Bright, marketers can easily target offers to web site visitors based on customer profile or site behavior data, and promote products or services. Additionally, marketers can analyze, test and refine marketing strategies that convert visitors to buyers and buyers to loyal customers. Highlights include:

-- Dynamic Offers - Marketers can easily create and manage campaigns that
deliver dynamic offers to web site visitors. Annuncio Bright includes 25
pre-defined campaigns that incorporate business logic from marketing and
merchandising best practices.

-- Sophisticated Personalization - Annuncio Bright offers powerful
personalization based on customer profiles or customer behavior, allowing
marketers to segment web site visitors into target groups for more targeted,
relevant offers and promotions.

-- Reporting & Analysis - Detailed reports allow marketers to analyze, test and
refine offers and content based on impressions and click-through rates,
maximizing the effectiveness of every campaign.

-- E-Commerce Integration - Annuncio Bright offers tight integration with
e-commerce applications via pre-built connectors, and provides open API's for
integration with other commerce and content systems.