COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, announced that Forrester Research, Inc., an independent research firm, ranked Merkle Loyalty Solutions, formerly 500friends, as a strong performer in The Forrester Wave™: Customer Loyalty Solutions, Q3 2017.
The Forrester report assesses the state of the loyalty solutions market and how thirteen vendors stack up against each other across 30 criteria. The evaluation focuses on current offerings, strategy, and market presence of the most significant vendors in the space.
Since joining Merkle in 2014, 500friends has fully transitioned to Merkle Loyalty Solutions this year. As part of the evaluation, Forrester surveyed clients of each firm. The report reveals positive feedback for Merkle Loyalty Solutions, stating that “clients we spoke to that weathered the transition described it as ‘seamless’ and feel that the two sides of the business are well- synched.” Customer references also liked the “self-service aspects of the platform, Merkle Loyalty Solutions’ creative approach to loyalty strategy, and the level of its thought leadership.”
Forrester also cited Merkle Loyalty Solutions along with another vendor for having “capabilities to help clients more effectively leverage loyalty data to fuel life-cycle interactions through integration with advertising technology platforms and larger CRM strategies.” Furthermore, Emily Collins, senior analyst at Forrester, wrote in the report, “Merkle Loyalty Solutions’ investments focus on better integrating capabilities in addressable media and CRM, enhancing platforms security, and improving the platform’s ability to support advanced analytics, personalization, and global programs.”
“We believe being named a Strong Performer in the Forrester Wave evaluation is a reflection of the success that Merkle Loyalty Solutions Group has achieved through innovative, on-brand loyalty strategy work and by implementing our SaaS enterprise loyalty platform for global brands,” says Michael Hemsey, President of Merkle Loyalty Solutions. “The capabilities within our strategy team, our platform, and our lean operational model allow our clients across verticals to redefine their loyalty value propositions, enable engaging, personalized customer experiences, and leverage people-based performance measurement, attribution, and analytics throughout their loyalty program and customer lifecycles.”
To read the full report, click here.
About Merkle
Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 25 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. When combined with its strength in performance creative and media, Merkle creates customer experiences that drive improved marketing results and shareholder value. M1, Merkle’s end-to-end, people-based insights, planning, and activation platform, enables clients to target known individuals and reach them across media and channels, throughout the customer life cycle. With 4,400 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 16 additional offices in the US and 11 offices in Europe and Asia. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.
