Re: CG: Sonetto CG-based rule and search engine wins awards for Retail Affiliate Management

> Dear CGers,
>
> Just thought I would let you know about some commercial success using
> CGs. Our product is based on CGs and CG search, and rule engines.
>
> Regards, Gerard Ellis
>
> Chief Scientist
>
> IVIS Group
>
> http://www.ivisgroup.com/
>
> Please check out the attached press releases that were published
> yesterday. The first is Microsoft’s release and the second is our own
> press release.
>
> It is worth mentioning that there were several Microsoft clients and
> partners who made the finals but did not win awards despite having
> higher profile relationships with Microsoft than we do. Sonetto not
> only won both the *Multi-Channel Retail Award* and the *Special Award
> for Innovation*, but beat competitors with cutting edge solutions in
> promotions management, RFID, point of sale and customer loyalty. This
> validates both the Sonetto product strategy and our vision for its
> place at the heart of multi-channel retailing.
>
> *Microsoft’s* release is at
> http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/rad2006winnerspr_1522006.mspx
>
> Our press release:
>
> * *
>
> *IVIS GROUP SECURES TWO WINS AT THE MICROSOFT EMEA RETAIL APPLICATION
> DEVELOPER AWARDS IN DUSSELDORF*
>
> * *
>
> */Sonetto Affiliate Channel Management Wins Multi-Channel Retailing
> Award and Special Award for Innovation/*
>
> *London**, 15th February 2006* - IVIS Group, the UK's most innovative
> e-business solution provider today announced that it won two out of
> the eight Microsoft EMEA Retail Application Developer (RAD) Awards at
> last night’s awards ceremony in Düsseldorf, Germany. IVIS Group
> scooped both the Multi-Channel Retailing Award and the Special Award
> for Innovation with the implementation of its Sonetto Affiliate
> Channel Management solution at Tesco.com. The application is part of
> IVIS Group’s Sonetto Multi-Channel Product Information Management
> (PIM) suite.
>
> The Multi-Channel Retailing Award category rewards solutions that
> enhance retailers’ ability to offer a better, more integrated customer
> experience across multiple channels such as stores, online, kiosks,
> catalogues, telephone, TV and collaborative partnerships with search
> engines, shopping comparison sites and affiliate marketing networks.
>
> The Special Award for Innovation is a discretionary award given by the
> judges that recognises the most creative, comprehensive, integrated
> use of Microsoft technology and products to deliver tangible business
> value to retailers.
>
> Qusai Sarraf, CEO, IVIS Group, said, "We are extremely proud to win
> these two awards. This endorsement from Microsoft and the RAD Award
> judges validates our vision of business driven PIM applications that
> enable true multi-channel retailing. It is a clear acknowledgement of
> the years of product development that have gone into our Sonetto
> solutions working closely with clients including Tesco.com.”
>
> Sonetto Affiliate Channel Management enables retailers to manage
> multiple dynamic relationships with shopping comparison websites,
> affiliate networks and search engines and align these collaborative
> channels with their direct sales efforts. Sonetto gives product,
> category and marketing managers the agility to control the supply of
> large product data feeds to affiliates on the fly and without the need
> for IT support. It optimises marketing campaigns and the promotion of
> products to consumers through affiliate channels, thereby increasing
> sales, optimising affiliate marketing ROI and minimising the IT cots
> of managing multiple partners.
>
> The Microsoft EMEA RAD Awards are in their 6th year and have become
> one of the leading events on the retail technology calendar. Since its
> inception, the RAD Awards programme has recognised and celebrated the
> independent software vendors (ISVs) and retailer IT departments that
> make the best use of Microsoft technology to provide business value to
> retail organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
>
> “This year’s RAD winners are focused on helping retailers achieve
> greater customer intimacy irrespective of channel, with a more
> integrated and collaborative business approach,” said Dilip Popat,
> managing director, EMEA Retail Industry Unit, Microsoft. “The winning
> companies demonstrate that a connected environment can maximise the
> potential of existing systems and link with those of external partners
> to help deliver the optimum shopping experience.”
>
> Microsoft believes that honouring innovative software developers is
> good for the retail community: it stimulates creativity in delivering
> genuine business value, and it continues to “raise the bar” for
> application development. In this way, Microsoft believes that the RAD
> Awards programme benefits the industry as a whole.
>
> Ends
>
> *About IVIS Group*
>
> IVIS Group has been at the forefront of developing leading edge,
> strategic e-business solutions for retailers for 12 years and is the
> development partner behind Tesco.com, the world's most successful
> online grocery retailer. With a solid understanding of the
> opportunities and challenges facing retailers today, IVIS Group helps
> its clients to ‘make data make sense’ by providing an innovative mix
> of customer-centric Product Information Management solutions for
> multi-channel retail, consulting, training and Professional Services.
> IVIS Group is a Microsoft Gold Partner, a member of W3C, GS1 UK and a
> pioneer of XML, .Net, Web Services, Accessibility and Semantic Web
> technologies.
>
> www.ivisgroup.com
>
> *About Sonetto*
>
> Sonetto is IVIS Group’s flagship Product Information Management
> solution. It is a business user-driven suite of applications that
> enables multi-channel retailers to manage their product information
> across channels. Sonetto reduces costs, improves customer satisfaction
> and increases revenue by delivering highly relevant categorised
> product information at every channel.
>
> www.sonetto.com
>
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> Copyright.
>
> IVIS Group - Make Data Make Sense
>
> IVIS Group, CP House, 97 107 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5TL.
>
> Tel: +44 (0)20 8579-3335
>
> Fax: +44 (0)20 8579-9731
>
> http://www.ivisgroup.com
>
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> **********************************************************************
>