MMA Announces the Availability of the First Fully-Integrated Marketing ROI Service
Avista by MMA Decision Support Service helps marketers make profitable decisions throughout the marketing process.
Wilton, CT (PRWEB) July 27, 2005
Marketing Management Analytics, Inc. (MMA) today announced the general availability of Avista by MMA Decision Support Service (Avista DSS), the first fully-integrated, enterprise managed service that gives companies the ability to significantly improve the return on their marketing investment (ROMI). MMA, the pioneer and innovator in advanced marketing analytics, is an independent operating unit of Carat, one of the world's leading media services companies. The release includes a standard version for all industries and separate financial services and pharmaceutical editions.
“Avista's launch comes at a time when many marketers' ability to implement and act on ROI metrics is woefully inadequate yet marketers are being pressured by their management to demonstrate accountability,” said Kannan Srinivasan, Professor of Management at Carnegie Mellon University.
An April 2005 survey by MMA, the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research of 143 senior-level marketers, for example, found that 60% of senior-level marketers said that defining, measuring and taking action on ROI is important, and only about 20% reported being satisfied with their ability to do so.
The new web-based service – “Avista DSS” -- is designed to increase a company's return on marketing investment (ROMI) by at least 15% for marketers new to marketing mix modeling. Those companies already experienced in doing sophisticated marketing modeling will still realize significant returns through marketing process improvements.
Avista DSS is delivered as a managed service that combines MMA's innovative analytics with a technology platform and data integration and management capabilities.
“It is time for the industry to move beyond simply tracking brand health measures, as important as they are, to fully understanding marketing's impact on sales,” said David Verklin, CEO of Carat North America. “With Avista DSS, MMA is leading an industrywide trend as advertisers move from talking about measurement to actually doing it and truly managing their marketing performance.”
“In an era of fragmented media and heightened fiscal accountability, the marketing playbook has changed,” said Ed See, EVP and Chief Operating Officer at MMA. “Successful marketers need to be ahead of the curve by understanding what their return on investment will be before they ever institute a program. The old way of assessing performance after the fact won't cut it. Avista turns traditIonal marketing on its head and gives marketers the information they need right out of the gate.”
"Marketing accountability is about more than showing numbers; it's about improving performance," explained Kevin J. Clancy, Ph. D., Chairman and CEO of Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research. "Avista DSS makes it possible to identify and respond to market problems and opportunities, leading to more effective, more profitable marketing communications programs. And that's what CEOs and CFOs love to see."
“Avista DSS helps put marketing on a par with other corporate functions by providing an efficient way to accurately measure ROI and predict marketing's impact on sales” said John Nardone, EVP and Chief Client Officer at MMA. “In today's climate of strict corporate governance, company's need this capability more than ever.”
Avista DSS lets marketers easily and quickly do the necessary analysis -- “what if” planning, optimization, forecasting, and ongoing monitoring and diagnosis through dashboards and reporting – to take immediate action to improve business results.
Avista DSS is designed for ease of use. It provides specific functional views for brand managers, senior executives, researchers and financial professionals.
“Avista DSS provides a unique service to corporate America with enterprise-ready tools that help marketers maximize sales or profits," said Randy Stone, CEO of MMA. “It was not created in a vacuum but is carefully based on the input of our category-leading clients, Advisory Council Members and our 16 years of experience in marketing analytics.”
By using Avista DSS marketers can gain many advantages including:
Find the best combination of tactics and channels to maximize sales and profit
Quickly respond to changes in the market by tracking and diagnosing performance
Manage portfolios of brands to maximize returns
Capture all marketing history, including performance data, in one location
Forecast results
Receive dashboard views of key performance metrics
Efficiently create and refresh marketing mix models
Visualize marketing data through rich reporting
There are no unique technical requirements. Users simply access the service through a standard web browser.
Avista DSS is powered by SAS, hosted by IBM and was developed by MMA in partnership with Wipro Technologies, the global technology and business consulting services provider.
About Marketing Management Analytics, Inc. (MMA)
MMA pioneered the use of marketing mix modeling to help companies plan, measure, validate, and optimize their marketing performance. Since that time, MMA has conducted more than 1,000 studies on hundreds of brands and businesses in more than 20 countries. MMA's clients include many of the most recognized marketers in the world. MMA has been a unit of Aegis Group, PLC, London (AGS. L) since 1997. For more information about Avista DSS and other MMA services, visit http://www. mma. com (http://www. mma. com).
Contacts:
Wendy Marx, Marx Communications
203-445-2850
Tom Mariam, Marx Communications
914-939-4294
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