Redwood City, CA - August 28, 2001 Connect Direct Inc., a full-service agency specializing in direct marketing for technology companies, announced the launch of Campaign Connection, a new Web-hosted service that enables the firm's clients to track results of direct marketing campaigns in real-time using a standard Web browser.

Campaign Connection, which the agency developed in-house, incorporates everything a client needs to track online response rates for a direct marketing campaign, including design, programming and hosting of Web response pages, along with 24/7 password-protected access to campaign results and lead contact data.

Campaign Connection begins collecting and reporting results the instant a campaign generates a response. Clients log into a personalized Web page (accessible from any standard browser) where they can view customized tracking reports that show rates for click-through, inquiries and conversion (clicks-to-leads), along with side-by-side comparisons of campaign, list/media and test cell performance. The system also generates an e-mail record of each lead and forwards it to a designated client e-mail address, so sales reps can jump on hot leads immediately.

Connect Direct developed Campaign Connection because the agency found that many of their clients did not have the internal resources available to track campaign results adequately. "With fewer personnel and tighter budgets, even programming a series of simple splash pages is a real strain for many of our clients," said Howard Sewell, president of Connect Direct. "Campaign Connection offers our clients a turnkey solution that enables them to track campaign results in real-time and helps ensure they get the maximum ROI from every marketing dollar."

Octopus, a Palo Alto-based provider of enterprise software for creating meta applications and a Connect Direct client, used Campaign Connection to track results for two recent online programs - a series of email newsletter sponsorships and a broadcast email campaign.

"Campaign Connection is indispensable to our direct marketing strategy," said Scott Noble, marketing programs manager at Octopus. "It gives the Octopus marketing department a real-time view of how campaigns, lists and test cells are performing, and enables us to quickly make strategic decisions on how to improve campaign ROI moving forward. Plus having all the Web design, programming and hosting managed offsite frees up our Web staff to work on more strategic projects."

Campaign Connection features

Campaign Connection is available to Connect Direct clients as an optional add-on service, and offers these key features:

• Design, hosting and programming of all response Web pages and microsites
• 24 hour, password-protected access to customized reports showing results by campaign, list, test cell, as well as complete lead contact data (downloadable in ASCII or CSV format)
• Automatic forwarding of lead contact data to designated client e-mail address
• Account services and technical support
• Results analysis and recommendations for follow-up strategies

About Connect Direct

Connect Direct (http://www.connectdirect.com/) is a full-service agency that specializes in direct marketing for high technology companies. The agency was founded in 1990 by company president Howard J Sewell, formerly a marketing manager at Oracle Corporation. In September 2000, the firm was named #12 amongst the "Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in Silicon Valley" by the San Jose Business Journal.