Research

Publication Date: 27 March 2006

ID Number: G00138536

Marketing Resource Management Vendors Differ on

Functionality
Kimberly Collins

MRM represents a broad set of marketing competencies with a variety of vendors

providing solutions. Determine which vendors meet your requirements in areas such as
planning, program management, knowledge management, fulfillment and analytics.

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Different classes of marketing resource management vendors offer different value propositions.
Breadth and depth of MRM capabilities also vary. Select vendors and solutions based on your
requirements by MRM competency area, balancing trade-offs between functionality, integration to
other business applications, usability, marketing domain focus and level of engagement.

ANALYSIS
Marketing resource management (MRM) is a set of processes and capabilities that aims to
enhance a company's ability to orchestrate and optimize internal and external marketing
resources (see "The Future of Marketing Automation Arrives With MRM" and "Marketing
Resource Management Is Key to a Successful CRM Strategy").
MRM applications enable companies to:

Plan and budget

Create and develop marketing programs and content

Collect and store content and knowledge

Fulfill and distribute marketing content and collateral

Measure and optimize marketing performance

In "Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management, 1Q06,") we evaluated vendors on their
ability to execute and completeness of vision for MRM. An area that received one of the highest
weightings was the vendors' products/solutions. Vendors were evaluated on their functionality for
each of the five MRM capabilities mentioned above, as well as their product architecture.
Determining your MRM functionality requirements and approach is critical to selecting the right
MRM vendor and solution (see "Determine Your Approach to Marketing Resource
Management").
We compare vendor competencies (best-of-breed, robust, capable, usable and none) by vendor
for each of these five MRM functionality areas (see Note 1).
Marketing suite vendors (Aprimo and Unica) provide MRM suites in addition to one or more
other marketing applications (for example, campaign management, lead management and event
management) but do not provide software that supports other business functions for example,
sales force automation (SFA), contact center, finance, supply chain management (SCM) and
ERP. MRM is a critical focus for these vendors to build an enterprise marketing management
(EMM) platform that supports planning, performance management and operational process
efficiencies. They have a broad vision for MRM, although depth of actual MRM capabilities may
vary depending on MRM focus and core competencies.
These vendors also provide strong integration with other marketing modules, such as campaign
and lead management. They will increasingly be challenged by the entry of enterprise CRM suite
players (see Figure 1). The value proposition of marketing suite vendors is their strong focus on
the marketing buying center, usability and functionality requirements of marketing.

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Page 2 of 8

Figure 1. Marketing and Enterprise Suite Vendors' MRM Competencies

Marketing Suites

Plan/
Budget

Create/
Develop

Collect/
Manage

Fulfill/
Distribute

Robust

Capable

Usable

Measure/
Report

Aprimo
Unica
CRM and
Enterprise Suites
Oracle
SAP
Siebel Systems*

Best of Breed

None

*Acquired by Oracle
Source: Gartner (March 2006)

Aprimo has the broadest set of MRM functionality, with capabilities in each of the five
components, including deep functionality in planning and budgeting, and robust functionality for
managing creative development and marketing fulfillment. It has decent capabilities for content
management.
Unica provides clients with robust capabilities for planning and financial management, with decent
capabilities for managing creative development. Unica does not support marketing fulfillment, and
its content management capabilities are limited. In 2005, Aprimo launched its MPM product,
providing dashboards and analytics to marketing managers. Unica still relies primarily on
standard reporting within its MRM solution. Neither company has pre-defined MRM optimization
models.
Action: Consider marketing suite providers for their strong marketing focus, usability and where
MRM is part of a larger EMM platform. Evaluate solutions based on the depth of capability
needed to meet requirements. Look to other best-of-breed vendors to support more-complex
optimization models.
CRM and enterprise suite providers for example, Oracle, SAP and Siebel Systems (which
was acquired by Oracle) offer MRM applications in addition to other CRM functions (for
example, campaign management, SFA and contact center) and other business applications (for
example, corporate performance management, ERP, SCM, HR and procurement). These
vendors offer a breadth of MRM capabilities typically built from core technologies (for example,
content management, project management, workflow and business intelligence) but may lack
depth in certain areas. They offer a strong value proposition around integration to other business
applications and have the ability to cross-sell into respective large client bases. They are
challenged to keep pace with the breadth of functionality from marketing suites and the depth
from best-of-breed component providers. However, SAP and Siebel have developed industry-

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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specific capabilities in trade promotion management, for example, which is a differentiator for
certain industries.
Oracle and SAP's MRM applications have traditionally leveraged core technologies to support
project management, content management, marketing fulfillment and analytics. Oracle still relies
on these core technologies in areas such as planning and budgeting, content management and
analytics, which enable marketing users to leverage its solutions; but Oracle does not get high
marks in terms of usability.
SAP's MRM strategy has been to focus on industry-specific capabilities through solutions around
brand management for consumer goods and retail, marketing development funds for high
technology, product development management for high technology, manufacturing, consumer
goods and services. During the past few years, SAP has partnered with key clients to add new,
more-marketing-specific functionality. New MRM capabilities in mySAP CRM Marketing 5.0
include digital asset management (video and audio streaming), giving it a robust rating in this
area. New capabilities for agency management, marketing funds development, product
development management, along with analytical dashboards and scenario planning, have made
marketing planning and budgeting, project management and MRM analytics more "capable."
The Siebel solution (acquired by Oracle on 31 January 2006) offers capabilities in four of the five
MRM capabilities. However, it requires integration with another asset or content management
solution, and capabilities for creative management remain limited. Through partner relationship
management, it offers decent marketing fulfillment capabilities. With robust planning, budgeting
and analytic capabilities, its real value proposition lies in using analytics to close the loop in
planning and budgeting. It also offers industry-specific capabilities, such as trade promotion
management and marketing development funds management. A combined Oracle/Siebel solution
would offer greater breadth and depth of MRM capabilities, particularly integration of Oracle's
content management capabilities.
Action: Consider enterprise suite vendors if you already use a large number of other business
applications from the same provider and are looking for MRM solutions that integrate with those
applications.
MRM suite providers offer solutions with a broad set of MRM capabilities, although depth may
vary (see Figure 2).

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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Figure 2. MRM Suite Vendors' MRM Competencies

Plan/
Budget

MRM Suites

Create/
Develop

Collect/
Manage

Fulfill/
Distribute

Measure/
Report

AssetLink
Citat
Marketingisland
MarketingPilot
nvigorate
Xeed
Best of Breed

Robust

Capable

Usable

None

Source: Gartner (March 2006)

The initial value proposition of these vendors typically falls along one or more of the following
dimensions:

An alternative focused specifically on MRM for large, global enterprises (for example,
AssetLink and nvigorate)

Midmarket focus with a lower-cost solution (for example, MarketingPilot) or geographical

focus with local resources and expertise (for example, Citat and Xeed in Europe, and
Marketingisland in Canada).

These vendors are challenged to keep pace with the marketing suite vendors that typically have a
larger set of resources and a broader client base. They also have to differentiate their solutions
based on usability from enterprise suite vendors that have a comparable level of functionality but
less focus on the marketing buyer, which manifests itself in the user interface. The value
proposition for these vendors is their strong focus on MRM, and customer engagement around
MRM requirements.
AssetLink and Citat provide a broad MRM solution across all five MRM competencies, with depth
in a couple of different areas. AssetLink offers capabilities across all five MRM functionality areas
with strong capabilities for planning, budgeting and managing the creative process. Its origins as
a digital asset/content management vendor make it stronger in that area than many of the other
MRM vendors. Citat offers strong capabilities for content management and marketing fulfillment.
Marketingisland, MarketingPilot, nvigorate and Xeed provide some basic capabilities within each
of the five MRM components but do not excel in any one area. Marketingisland is most capable in
marketing fulfillment. MarketingPilot's solution is most capable for planning, budgeting and
managing creative processes, with a stronger focus on midmarket customers. nvigorate's solution
offers more capabilities in content management and marketing fulfillment. MRM analytics is the

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Page 5 of 8

most-immature area of MRM, and many of these solutions are typically weak in measurement
and analysis.
Action: Consider MRM suite providers if you are looking for a strong focus on MRM, marketing
usability, a vendor that will work closely to implement a solution or lower-cost alternatives. Depth
of capabilities will vary greatly among the vendors for the different components, so making tradeoffs in functionality will be required.
Best-of-Breed MRM vendors offer strong capabilities and vision in a particular MRM
competency area (see Figure 3). They may offer some capabilities in the other MRM areas, but
typically to augment the primary focus area (for example, planning around creative work) rather
than broadly supporting the marketing function (for example, budgeting across marketing
programs).
Figure 3. Best-of-Breed MRM Vendors' Competencies
Plan/
Budget

Create/
Develop

Collect/
Manage

Fulfill/
Distribute

Measure/
Report

Best-of-Breed MRM
Component
BrandWizard
Technologies
Elateral
Veridiem

Best of Breed

Robust

Capable

Usable

None

Source: Gartner (March 2006)

The value proposition for these vendors is to offer advanced capabilities in key areas that
typically augment a broader MRM solution from another vendor. We have seen these best-ofbreed offerings in three MRM areas: creative development (for example, BrandWizard
Technologies), marketing fulfillment (for example, Elateral) and analytics (for example, Veridiem).
We expect to see more best-of-breed vendors emerge in the less-mature MRM areas of
marketing fulfillment and analytics. These vendors are challenged by resources for growth and
development of advanced capabilities by larger, more-viable vendors (for example, marketing and
enterprise suites) as the market matures. These vendors are likely acquisition targets by vendors
seeking to deepen their MRM capabilities in key areas (see "SAS/Veridiem Deal Will Benefit Both
Companies' Customers").
BrandWizard Technologies' solution defines the future of MRM's create and develop competency,
which makes BrandWizard a visionary in the MRM market. Its application integrates tightly with
the creative process, Adobe InDesign Server 2.0 and Quark DDS server.
The hallmark of the Elateral solution is its marketing fulfillment capabilities, where it sets the
visionary pace for the market and boasts some of the largest (thousands) user networks
(including sales and distribution). Elateral also provides content and asset management,

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Page 6 of 8

extending this capability to field marketing and sales/distribution partners for dynamic content
creation for a particular campaign or offer.
Veridiem (being acquired by SAS) focuses primarily on the analytical aspects of MRM, including
dashboards, point-and-click data mining, scenario planning and marketing mix optimization. The
solution provides basic planning and budgeting capabilities to enable companies to translate the
bottom-up analysis into more-strategic objectives.
Action: Consider best-of-breed vendors when you need advanced capabilities in a particular area
to augment your primary MRM solution.

Note 1
Criteria for Level of Functional Capability
To determine the level of capability in each area, we compared vendors' solutions on two
dimensions:

Depth or "amount" of functionality within each component

Usability of functionality by marketing users

Best-of-breed (more than 90 percent and highly usable by marketing users)

Robust (66 percent to 89 percent and highly usable by marketing users)
Capable (31 percent to 65 percent and moderately usable by marketing users)
Usable (5 percent to 30 percent and somewhat usable by marketing users)
None (less than 5 percent and limited usability, primarily in conjunction with other MRM
components)

Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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Publication Date: 27 March 2006/ID Number: G00138536

2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

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