IBM Announces Cloud-Based Digital Marketing Service

IBM has expanded its Smarter Commerce product line with a new integrated digital marketing product.

"Marketing Center" is a cloud-based suite designed to cover all aspects of digital marketing by integrating digital analytics with real-time marketing execution capabilities.

The new product follows predictions that see CMOs spending at least as much money on technology as CIOs over the next few years as they are able to combine new marketing opportunities in mobile and social media. IBM says that marketers can use the software to "turn data provided by customers into personalized offers via email or website personalization, all with just a few clicks."

"Customers today are connecting with brands on multiple fronts, including mobile devices, social media sites and in the store. Regardless of the channel, these individuals expect each experience to be flawless and relevant," said Yuchun Lee, vice president, IBM Enterprise Marketing Management, in a prepared statement. "With the IBM Marketing Center, we expand our SaaS portfolio with an all-in-one solution that provides CMOs and their teams with the intelligence required to consistently meet the unique needs of each individual customer -- the ultimate goal of all marketers."

The Marketing Center is another example of IBM broadening its services portfolio and competing with products such as " Marketo and Eloqua plus Omniture, plus ExactTarget, plus Silverpop". The service is comprised almost entirely of software IBM recently acquired Coremetrics, Unica, DemandTec, and TeaLeaf.

Wolfgang Gruener is a contributor to Tom's IT Pro. He is currently principal analyst at Ndicio Research, a market analysis firm that focuses on cloud computing and disruptive technologies, and maintains the conceivablytech.com blog. An 18-year veteran in IT journalism and market research, he previously published TG Daily and was managing editor of Tom's Hardware news, which he grew from a link collection in the early 2000s into one of the most comprehensive and trusted technology news sources.

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