Association for Interactive Media and Unica Corporation Open Nominations for the 1st Personalization Excellence Awards.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

New Award Honoring Companies Succeeding in Personalized CRM 

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2001

Association for Interactive Media and Unica(TM) Corporation today announced opening nominations for the first AIM/Unica Personalization Excellence Awards, which will honor companies leading the industry in implementing personalized marketing and services for their customers.

AIM, the voice of the Internet and interactive media industry representing more than 500 technology companies, and Unica Corporation, a provider of analytical CRM and marketing automation solutions, developed the awards program as a way to highlight the best practices of a fast-developing industry, which is providing tangible benefits for both consumers and marketers. The award highlights the importance of successfully balancing personalization with best practices in protecting consumer privacy in order to foster customer loyalty and satisfaction.

"The Internet direct marketing industry now is learning the right ways to deliver the level of service that today's customers expect, while respecting their right to privacy. With these, the first awards to be given out by AIM, we hope to provide stellar examples of ways companies can provide personalized services and still deliver quality customer relationship management," said Ben Isaacson, executive director of AIM, the largest trade association in the world dedicated to helping the interactive media industries prosper in the evolving global economy.

Criteria for the awards program include:

-- How the company anticipated the needs of the customer or client

-- How the user's interaction with the company was made more efficient or
satisfying

-- How the company encouraged and can prove that the user returned for future
visits

-- What the return on investment was for its personalization efforts

-- How the company ensured the protection of users' privacy while instilling
confidence in the collection and use of personalization data

Nominations, which opened March 26, can be made online at https://www.interactivehq.org/award.htm. The deadline for submissions is April 16.

Judges, including Yankee Group Vice President of Internet & Media Research Kevin Noonan and Gartner Group Vice President & Research Director for CRM Scott Nelson, will be evaluating the candidates until April 30, when the finalists will be announced.

The winner of the first AIM/Unica Personalization Excellence Award will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held at 1 p.m., May 15, at Tampa, Florida's Westin Innisbrook Resort, during AIM's Annual Conference. Being held May 12-16, AIM Interact: 2001, www.aimannual.com, is a high-level forum at which industry leaders discuss the most pressing industry issues and opportunities, share successes and challenges, and make valuable connections with peers. "As a provider of one-to-one marketing and personalization software solutions, we have the privilege of working with some of the most successful and innovative marketers in the world," said Carol Meyers, vice president of marketing for Unica Corporation. "We are pleased to be joining with AIM to provide a forum for these innovative marketers to share their success stories. We hope that these awards will not only bring recognition to those leading the industry, but also serve as an educational tool for all the companies working to achieve these goals."

About AIM

The Association for Interactive Media (AIM) is the largest trade association in the world devoted to helping companies that use the Internet and interactive media to reach their respective marketplaces with maximum effectiveness. AIM, an independent subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association, serves diverse corporate interests from email marketing, e-tailing, online marketing, content provision, e-commerce, market research, broadband access and the rollout of interactive television.

AIM is a member-driven association that strives to serve its membership in a variety of ways: 1) as a community in which member companies can achieve their goals through information, education, leadership forums, networking opportunities and public relations support; 2) as a builder of consumer and business confidence in e-commerce and in new technologies, with specific attention to the areas of privacy, security and public trust; and 3) As an advocate for the interactive business industries in the halls of government -- specifically on the federal level -- AIM works to promote industry self-regulation and to enhance working relationships with legislators.

About Unica

Unica, a provider of award-winning analytical CRM and marketing automation solutions, helps leading businesses implement one-to-one customer interaction strategies that communicate the right message to the right person at the right time -- whatever the channel. Affinium, Unica's modular, cross-channel marketing suite, delivers deep functionality for data mining and predictive modeling, customer interaction and campaign management, reporting, and real-time personalization. Hundreds of businesses worldwide rely on Unica's software, services, and expertise to build profitable customer relationships and achieve marketing success. Headquartered in Lincoln, Mass., Unica is privately held with offices throughout the U.S. and a network of distribution partners in Europe, South Africa, and South America. Its customers include Lands' End, Bank of Montreal, Fingerhut, ABN AMRO, United Parcel Service, Marriott, Scotiabank, Merck-Medco, and AOL-AAdvantage. For more information, call 781/259-5900 or visit www.unicacorp.com.