Compaq Computer (UK) Ltd.

Mounting More Efficient Marketing Campaigns

Background

Compaq is a leading manufacturer of personal computers and servers based in Houston Texas. In 1991, Compaq (UK) recognized that it needed to mount more effective marketing campaigns to remain a market leader in an increasingly competitive market.

Challenge

Mounting marketing campaigns had traditionally been a fragmented process with different suppliers adapting individual briefs to their own specifications. Compaq realized that marketing campaigns would be more effective if it were able to coordinate and integrate processes across multiple suppliers. To achieve this it would be necessary to implement a sophisticated form of project management supported by an innovative IT infrastructure.

The new infrastructure would be able to manage and monitor all parties involved in major campaigns. Compaq's users were happy with their Microsoft Windows environment and wanted to keep as many of the features they were familiar with as possible. Compaq also wanted a system tailored to the specific needs of its business which would be able to adapt quickly as its business needs change.

Solution

Compaq chose USoft Developer to implement this demanding new system for the following reasons:

Iterative Development Key to Success

In using USoft Developer, Compaq was able to avoid a substantial amount of rework. Compaq had spent three months modeling its core marketing processes using a popular CASE tool and were able to take the resulting model, and load it directly into the USoft repository, using USoft Bridge.

The USoft server/client repository is where the information model, the business rules, and the user interface definition, which together comprise the definition of the end-user application, are stored. As the system definition changes, business rules are changed once in the repository and propagated throughout the system ensuring the integrity of the application. The four-person team spent approximately four months building the marketing system which has 120 database tables and 80 windows.

End users were heavily involved in the development process. They met regularly with the developers to review completed sections of their application and provide feedback into the iterative development process. This involvement ensured that the resulting application exactly met user requirements for functionality and ease of use.

John Rignall Projects Group Manager in IT commented that the iterative development method allows you to "build a system quickly and then tune, tune, tune to provide what the user wants".

The Benefits Compaq runs multiple major marketing campaigns, now currently managed by their new system. For each campaign, the activities of the suppliers are logged and monitored. Response rates to press advertisements are monitored, and responses to direct mail are qualified. All campaign costs are tracked. The marketing department is now able to monitor and manage all aspects of each marketing campaign, resulting in improved effectiveness, efficiency and more qualified leads -- and business.

As Compaq measures and monitors its marketing activities, it will adapt its business processes to changing market conditions -- with the benefit that it now has an IT solution in place that will respond to the changes it needs fast, when they are needed.

Future

Based on its experience internally, Compaq plans to train its contracted creative agencies to use its marketing system. With the successful implementation of a USoft Server/Client solution in its marketing department, Compaq are planning to extend its use of USoft products into other strategic areas of its business, such as Sales and Customer Service.

USoft: The Server/Client Software Company

To investigate a partnership with USoft for developing and implementing server/client solutions, call toll-free at 1-800-For-USoft, or call one of our offices.
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