Aprimo Enables Media and Entertainment Industry to Improve the Effectiveness of Promotional Investments

Aprimo Enables Media and Entertainment Industry to Improve the Effectiveness of Promotional Investments International Film Production Companies Turn to Aprimo to Assist in the Management of More Than $4 Billion in Marketing Spend INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Aprimo, Incorporated, a global leader in Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM), announced today that it is working with five of the world's largest movie production and distribution houses to allow them to gain better visibility to media and promotional plans and commitments by film, enabling them to make better marketing financial decisions as films gain or lose market demand in real time. Each of the major players in the media and entertainment industry spends between $800 million and $2 billion every year on marketing films internationally. With the considerable sum of money being invested into the marketing process, these companies must be able to pinpoint the exact amount of sales that films are earning and respond to box office statistics in real- time by making adjustments to current marketing investments. This allows the production and distribution companies to pool their resources behind films that are performing well over those that are not producing a solid ROI. With competition fierce in the entertainment industry, film companies must also keep a tight reign on all of the information surrounding upcoming new releases. As a result, these companies are looking for a way to maintain control over marketing information while allowing plans and data to be easily accessed by all necessary parties. Aprimo is the recognized leader in providing marketing software solutions to the media and entertainment industry, with five leading production companies on its client roster, including: -- Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International, a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which required a global marketing system to help facilitate marketing planning in the hyper-competitive film industry. -- United International Pictures (UIP), a joint venture distributing Paramount and Universal Feature Films outside the U.S. market, which selected Aprimo to help standardize its internal marketing processes, with goals to obtain faster approvals, streamline access to film information and to easily update promotional and marketing plans. Aprimo has been working closely with Accenture's media and entertainment division to ensure that its customers are receiving best-in-breed solutions to these and other marketing challenges. "Aprimo Marketing truly answers a vital need within the media and entertainment industry," said David Wolf, partner, head of global entertainment industry segment, Accenture. "Aprimo's deep knowledge of the media and entertainment space, combined with their products' usability and flexible architecture, allows companies to precisely measure the effectiveness of their marketing spend and greatly improve their marketing efficiency." Through the use of the Aprimo Marketing(TM) suite of software applications, film production and distribution companies can house all data in a secure, password-restricted central repository, where each user can only access information pertinent to their own marketing efforts. Additionally, Aprimo's Marketing Planner product enables companies to alleviate the countless unnecessary spreadsheets and paperwork that are typically passed from department to department. Now, all parties involved in the process can access the same information via Aprimo Marketing, allowing for real-time adjustments of marketing commitments, as well as faster time to market for all promotional materials. "We see an enormous need for companies in the media and entertainment industry to have better control and management over the millions of dollars in marketing spend," said Bill Godfrey, chairman and CEO, Aprimo. "As the provider of choice of EMM technology to this industry, we are constantly improving the Aprimo Marketing suite of products so that it can address the pain points of film marketers and help them to generate greater business value from their marketing investments." For more information on Aprimo Marketing, contact Aprimo at 1-877-8APRIMO or via email at info@aprimo.com . About Aprimo Aprimo, Incorporated develops the most insightful, intuitive platform for managing today's complex and interconnected world of marketing. Aprimo Marketing(TM), a suite of Web-based software applications, is used by leading companies to streamline the way they operate, get better insight into where they're investing their marketing resources and bring unprecedented control across their extended marketing team-inside and outside their companies. Aprimo is delivering value to many industry-leading companies such as Bank of America, Amway, AOL, Computer Associates, Cummins, Delta Faucet, Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, Sony and Pfizer. Aprimo is headquartered in Indianapolis, and has offices throughout North America and in London. Visit http://www.aprimo.com/ for more information. Aprimo is a registered trademark of Aprimo, Incorporated. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. Source: Aprimo, Incorporated CONTACT: Kara Cook, +1-312-329-3910, cookk@ruderfinn.com , or Mike MacNulty, +1-317-803-4336, mike.macnulty@aprimo.com , both for Aprimo Web site: http://www.aprimo.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment