Karlsruhe, March 15, 2011 +++ BrandMaker, Europe's largest provider of Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems, and arvato systems Technologies have entered into a strategic partnership. arvato systems Technologies is part of the arvato Group, which as a Bertelsmann subsidiary, is among the largest internationally-networked media and communications service providers, with more than 60,000 employees in more than 30 countries.

In the cooperation with BrandMaker, arvato systems Technologies will take on pre and after-sales support for selected customers in Marketing Process Optimization. The support spectrum ranges from the analysis of the company's situation to the recommendation and creation of functional specifications on through to the implementation and customer-specific adaptations of the BrandMaker MRM Suite and change management. BrandMaker and arvato systems Technologies have already successfully handled initial large joint projects in Europe. Now they will embark on joint activities in the USA and, later, a worldwide expansion of their collaboration.

"Both partners are proven experts in their areas – BrandMaker in Marketing Resource Management technologies, arvato systems Technologies as a consulting company, system provider, and integrator in the area of business process optimization," explains Ralf Schürmann, vice president of arvato systems Technologies.

BrandMaker CEO Mirko Holzer adds: "Thanks to the bundling of our expertise, we are in a position to offer enterprise customers complete, turn-key solutions in the area of Marketing Process Optimization."

With its eponymous, modularly-designed Web-based MRM system, BrandMaker covers the entire marketing workflow – from planning, budgeting, and support of all creative processes such as briefing, agency control, review management, and media asset management to job management, media production and distribution such as Web-to-Print or Web-to-Web, in addition to reporting and controlling. This year, Gartner, Inc., the world's leading technology analyst, has positioned BrandMaker in the Visionaries quadrant of its "Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management." "This confirms the proven success of BrandMaker and underscores our outstanding position on the MRM market," confirms BrandMaker CEO Holzer.

"Companies spend a lot of money on marketing. As creative units, the marketing departments often lead the existence of ‘islands’ within their organizations,” explains Klaus Voormanns, director business development at arvato systems Technologies. "The introduction of structured processes and systems in marketing does not limit creativity; to the contrary, it makes room for the actual core tasks of a marketer by unburdening them of operative and repetitive tasks. The partnership with BrandMaker starts here, our customers will profit from a total package of technology and services."


About arvato systems Technologies
As a subsidiary of arvato systems group and thus as part of the international Bertelsmann AG, arvato systems | Technologies is a global full-service IT provider. Its cross-industry portfolio of services across the technologies uniquely merges the worlds of SAP and Microsoft to integrated solutions. arvato systems | Technologies designs, develops, implements and maintains future-oriented and dynamic IT systems all over the world. The comprehensive range covers standard and customized software development, complete ERP systems, reliable Business Intelligence and logistics solutions, Application Management as well as innovative solutions for customer loyalty. In cooperation with reliable and certified partners worldwide, arvato systems | Technologies as a general contractor also offers an optimal Rightshoring concept to its customers. Through the use of various IT services, competitively provided both at national and international locations, customers can choose between onsite, nearshore, offshore and outsourcing services.

Core competences for Business Process Management are products and solutions which help to make complex business processes essentially more efficient. From process consulting to automation and control, arvato systems Technologies offers comprehensive know-how and products for the entire value chain.


About BrandMaker
BrandMaker GmbH, headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, is Europe’s leading supplier of marketing resource management (MRM) systems and employs about 150 people throughout Europe. Founded in 1999, BrandMaker is a pioneer in the area of marketing-process optimization. Since 2001, it has been selling its MRM system, also called BrandMaker, which addresses the needs of marketing and communications departments in large, decentralized organizations. BrandMaker is a comprehensive, modular MRM solution that optimizes the entire marketing process chain, removes burdensome aspects of marketing operations, and significantly increases marketing productivity. There are BrandMaker modules for, among other processes, automated ordering of online and print media (the latter via web-to-print), for media asset management, and for software-supported marketing planning and marketing strategy. The second key product is the BrandMaker Marketing Planner SaaS, the first completely web-based marketing planning software system in Germany (www.marketing-planner-online.com).

Among the well-known firms that use BrandMaker solutions in their marketing departments are Commerzbank, DekaBank, Domicil Möbel, Ernst & Young, EnBW, G+J EMS, Opel, and Tirol Werbung.

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