2008 AMP Conference
Plans are being finalized for the 2008 AMP Conference. Our tentative schedule has us returning to Las Vegas September 24-26. Click here for a review of the 2007 Optimizing AMP Conference.

"I left the 2007 Connect3 Optimizing AMP conference with new analytical tools that I know will help move my thinking and business forward. I can't wait to implement them."
David F. Patrick
SVP,CMO
Westlake Ace Hardware

Connect3 User Group
The Connect3 Customer Support and Quality Assurance teams have implemented an online Customer User Group. This allows sharing ideas on our solutions and related promotion processes. There is also a "Files" section where we post support materials including a wide range of training videos which walk through specific features. If you want to become a member request an invititation at dglenn@connect3.com

Upcoming Events
April 16-18: Retail Technology Conference (RTC), The Rio, Las Vegas. A limited number of free badges and hotel accommodations are available for this event. Please email for more information bporrazzo@connect3.com

June 5: Connect3 Regional Event on Advanced Promotion Solutions, Boston, MA. Please email for more information bporrazzo@connect3.com

June 16-18: Supermarket Executive Summit, Four Seasons Resort, Houston, TX. Connect3 is a Gold Sponsor and co-sponsor of the 2008 Supermarket Benchmark Study. A limited number of free badges and hotel accommodations are available for this event. Please email for more information bporrazzo@connect3.com

September 24-26: 2008 AMP Conference, Green Valley Ranch Resort, Las Vegas. Please email for more information bporrazzo@connect3.com

How Connect3 can Help with Collaboration
Connect3 can help retailers and suppliers take control of their promotions and work more effectively with suppliers by using our analytics applications to develop and execute the most productive promotions by taking the following analysis into account:

• Optimal product selection
• Optimal price point
• Cannibalization and brand effects
• Net category contribution analysis
• Halo effects
• Category driver and draftee/passenger relationships

Study Highlights Trade Promotion Effectiveness
The industry needs better ways to collaborate to produce more effective promotions and Connect3 is accepting the challenge. An upcoming Webinar will provide more details. For now, click here to see a summary of some of the statistics from a recent study from AMR Research called "Effective Trade Promotion".

2007 Customer Successes
Margaret Austin Byrne, VP Marketing & Business Development
margaret@connect3.com
We've been busy on many fronts assisting our customers with their AMP implementations. Many customers went live in 2007 and many more are scheduled for 2008. To see an overview click here.

Marketing and Promotions Systems are Hot!
Connect3 President & CEO, Dale Byrne, dale@connect3.com
Dale, moving into 2008 the business of managing retail marketing activities and associated promotions is a hot category! Maybe it's the fact that retailers are planning more promotional activity in the down economy, the need to better manage media spend with on-line taking a bigger piece of the pie or retailers simply looking for more efficiencies... but it's happening. For nearly 15 years Connect3 has been the leader in this critical aspect of retail success and this space is taking off in the first quarter.

Working in partnership with our customer base, Connect3 continues to build-out our promotion footprint to support all types of complex, versioned promotions -- all integrated with legacy systems and empowered with in-line retail analytics and optimization. But we're not stopping there. Starting this quarter Connect3 is rolling out enhanced products and services that also position us in the integrated retail Marketing Resource Management space to enable intelligently planning and budgeting ALL types of promotions, across ALL media and providing the collaborative tools to plan, optimize, execute and analyze promotions from vendors to merchants to the advertising department.

Connect3 wants to be your partner in making the transition to the new "promotion universe" that is unfolding in front of us. Read on for more details.

New Modules Address Emerging Trends
Connect3 VP Product Management, Marsha Shapiro, mshapiro@connect3.com
At Connect3 we've built a robust system for handling any type of promotional activity and managing and executing the related content and pricing. We are now rolling out new versions of our core solution set with improved cross-channel terminology and new modules that include budgeting and on-line publishing. With the integration of advanced analytics in our 4.X releases we will continue to provide enhanced solutions and services including the April release of Promotion Manager 4.5 release which will have new "cool" web-based interfaces for DecisionPoint and FreeStyle analytics. Here is a quick run through of a few of our new capabilities:

• DecisionPoint and FreeStyle Analytics – The retail industry’s most advanced promotion analytics and optimization suite featuring for the first time ever integrated, in-line promotion analytics and optimization.
• Trade Funds Manager - A web-based collaboration workbench and portal for managing the promotion negotiation process integrated with Promotion Manager.
• Budget Manager - Our new Marketing Resource Management (MRM) solution combines top-down cross-channel budgeting with the granular promotion planning and execution capabilities of Promotion Manager.
• iFlyer – Allows direct deployment of Promotion Manager flyers/catalogs to your website with automated production of mouse-overs, "page flipping" view and e-commerce enabled clicking. Eliminates pre-media services and provides direct control.
• iGadgets – Quickly build a tailored Gadget that delivers targeted content directly from Promotion Manager. Several versions are available depending on deployment methodology and targeting strategy.
• Promotion Manager DL – A departmental level Promotion Manager that is targeted at retailers who require a solution for advertising production with limited integration and accelerated implementation. Upward compatible with enterprise Promotion Manager.

Shopper Analytics Drives Sales and Margin
Richard Althoff, VP Analytics Solutions Group, ralthoff@connect3.com
During the past several months we have made exciting progress in delivering the industry's most advanced integrated promotion analytics capability. We have also completed our first Shopper Analytics project for one of our longest term customers with outstanding results.

By analyzing two years of historical transaction data, breaking it into "drive periods" to look at major promotional periods throughout the year and then overlaying the granular promotion history from Promotion Manager, we identified significant opportunities to increase sales and margins while reducing the print advertising investment dramatically.

These results are being used immediately to support a dramatic shift in this retailers promotion strategy, both in media and in-store presentation of merchandise. This turnkey service is available for all types of retailers and the payback is very large and immediate. Email bporrazzo@connect3.com to register for the upcoming webinar on Shopper Analytics.

Measuring and Delivering AMP ROI
Michael Knight, VP Professional Services mknight@connect3.com
Connect3 continues to refine our unique capability to provide an extensive Return on Investment analysis for AMP as a prelude to making the decision to move forward with an implementation. In less than 30 days, we interview all key constituents, gather historical metrics, run the data through our models and prepare and deliver an executive presentation. These highly successful projects are even being viewed by our customers as "raising the bar" for all future software acquisition processes.

To further our ability to reduce the "time to ROI" for Connect3 solutions, we have developed several implementation methodologies including the DL (Department Level) approach for limited footprint and user counts, Pre-Configured for those customers who want Best-Practices process with fast implementation and Enterprise approach for large organizations that require detailed Business and Technical requirements to combine Best-Practices with their historical processes.