Survey Reveals Marketers' 2008 Investment Priorities Focus on Database and Analytics Skills

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - February 5, 2008) - Alterian (LSE: ALN), the leading Global enterprise marketing platform provider, released the results of its fifth Annual Marketing Survey (www.alterian.com/research) today which revealed that marketers' priorities for 2008 are firmly rooted in database and analytics with 67 percent allocating additional resources to this area. With responses from almost 900 marketers, agencies, marketing services providers and systems integrators, the survey provides a comprehensive analysis of spending and investment priorities for the industry.

Fuelling online growth

As marketers continue to grow their online marketing programs, investments in databases and analytics are correspondingly on the rise in support of these efforts. Alterian found that 45 percent of marketers are now spending over $500,000 on online marketing, compared with only 37 percent in 2006. These marketers are not approaching their online programs unprepared; 67 percent of marketers responded that database and analytics are the most sought after skillset and warrant the heaviest investments. When it comes to effective online marketing, these results reflect that marketers are now on the path to become analytically led.

A single view of the customer? Depends on which application you open

Despite heightened discussion over the past 10 years about maintaining a single view of the customer, the industry is still spending huge amounts of time updating different applications with seven out of ten (69 percent) respondents using more than three marketing applications every day A staggering one in five (20 percent) marketers use more than seven separate applications to store and analyze marketing and campaign data, pointing towards a core requirement for an analytical marketing platform that can pull this data together and make sense of it.

A recent Forrester Research report released in January 2008 titled "The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Marketing Platform, Q1 2008," states, "83 percent of marketers, a significant majority, tell us that they need a comprehensive marketing suite to improve their effectiveness." (To download a complimentary copy of the Forrester EMP Wave please visit www.alterian.com/empwave).

Commenting on the survey results, David Eldridge, CEO, Alterian, said, "Despite the current economic situation receiving much coverage on both sides of the Atlantic, investment in marketing, specifically online marketing, be it outsourced to agencies or in-house, continues to grow with only seven percent of our respondents citing no planned resource increase."

Eldridge continued, "The focus of this year's survey is clearly on making that first step on the journey to customer centricity, whatever that starting point might be for your company. Marketing that is led by an integrated database and analytical foundation will continue to drive online programs, and increased spending in this area will continue to improve the customer experience."

Notes to Editors

The Alterian 2007 Survey polled 852 marketing professionals. The annual survey, now in its fifth year, was conducted in North America and the United Kingdom in October and November 2007 through a dedicated website landing page and hardcopy in-person interviews at the 2007 Direct Marketing Association Conference in Chicago and at ad:tech in New York.

Full survey results can be downloaded here: www.alterian.com/research.

About Alterian

Alterian (LSE: ALN) helps marketers improve results through its enterprise marketing software platform and global partner community of over 70 leading marketing services providers, agencies and systems integrators. By combining database, digital, and operational marketing applications on a shared data infrastructure, the Alterian Marketing Services Platform makes it practical and cost effective for marketers to gain actionable insight and use this to execute an integrated marketing strategy across online and offline channels.

Over 70 global partners including Accenture, Acxiom, Allant Group, Carlson Marketing, Experian, Epsilon, InfoUSA, Merkle, Ogilvy One and Euro RSCG Worldwide, deliver Alterian software alongside their own value-added services to market leaders like Princess Cruises, General Motors, Zurich, HSBC, Limited Too, Dell, Amnesty International and Vodafone, empowering them to drive competitive advantage through improved marketing performance and customer satisfaction. For more information about Alterian, our Partner Network or the Alterian Marketing Services Platform please visit, www.alterian.com.

Contact Information: For more information, contact: Adrienne McGarr Ruder Finn 312-329-3907 mcgarra@ruderfinn.com Malti Shukla Alterian 312-884-5226 MShukla@alterian.com