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Increasing the Value of Agency Spend with Aprimo Marketing Resource Management

Aprimo, Inc. - Aprimo Marketing

Aprimo Marketing MRM Suite

REVIEWER: Tracy Kiser, marketing manager of engine business marketing group for Cummins Inc.

BACKGROUND: Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Cummins serves customers in more than 160 countries and territories through its network of 550 company-owned and independent distributor locations and more than 5,000 dealer locations. With more than 28,000 employees worldwide, Cummins reported sales of $8.4 billion in 2004.

PLATFORMS:

Cummins is hosted by Aprimo. Cummins runs Microsoft SQL Server as its database and Microsoft 2000 as its operating system.

PROBLEM SOLVED: Cummins' engine business marketing group prioritized collateral development as a process improvement project, seeking to reduce time and expense in creating effective brochures, newsletters and other marketing materials created for our distributor and dealer network. Using a Six Sigma approach to process improvement, Cummins identified three key drivers affecting project cost and throughput. First, initiating work through an agency too early in the process - based on incomplete project definition - was wasting money on mis-starts and rework. Second, inefficient communication and collaboration with agencies and printers created a work imbalance and dependence on time-consuming face-to-face meetings. Third, an undisciplined content review process resulted in numerous revisions per project.

PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY: Cummins deployed several of Aprimo's Marketing Resource Management (MRM) products to increase the value of its agency spend, including marketing planner, vendor manager, calendar and digital asset manager. With this, ROI was achieved very quickly. The initiative enabled the company to streamline the production management and marketing planning processes, giving Cummins a primary repository in Aprimo to document and keep track of all marketing activity, from the infancy of a single task through the entire completed project. With Aprimo's MRM software, Cummins has realized a 61-percent reduction in the number of days it takes to complete the average collateral project. Agency revisions to copy and design layout drafts fell by 78 percent. Not only is Cummins able to meet project deadlines on time, but Aprimo's software now enables a reduction in creative spend by 23 percent. Another significant savings is the elimination of redundant digital asset repositories. The annual savings on asset management fees from outside vendors fell 75 percent.

STRENGTHS: The product makes marketing projects highly transparent and easy to track. Aprimo has enabled Cummins to define projects upfront as creative briefs and have its agencies compile quotes. With the new system, the Cummins marketing team has one place to initiate proposals for all marketing projects, utilizing an online review and approval process. As the team members execute projects, they can update details, such as printing specifications, paper sizes, and fulfillment and distribution plans.

WEAKNESSES: Because Aprimo is a Web-based application, the number of mouse clicks required to navigate the application is higher than a typical client/server based application, requiring more time from our users to work through the interface. However, the newest release of Aprimo (v. 7.0) has a cleaner and easier user interface that incorporates many of the features with which our users are familiar.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Cummins had previously selected Aprimo's demand generation solution to positive results. When looking for an MRM solution to address other issues, Aprimo was the clear choice. Due to its leadership position amongst vendors in this space, as well as Gartner's favorable reviews and recommendations of the product, Cummins selected Aprimo without needing to consider other products.

DELIVERABLES: Cummins uses Aprimo to create reports detailing key metrics, newsletters and e-mail marketing campaigns.

VENDOR SUPPORT: Aprimo has been a tremendous support throughout the implementation. They spent approximately one month on site, and we have access to a dedicated Aprimo representative. Because the solution is hosted, it is always up and running.

DOCUMENTATION: Newer versions of Aprimo Marketing have the ability to customize online help.


Aprimo Marketing MRM Suite
Aprimo, Incorporated
510 East 96th Street, Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317-803-4300
www.aprimo.com

Product reviews are customer testimonials. We thank the author of this review for taking the time to share his or her expertise.

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