Forrester Waves are fun. The research company assesses vendors in various technology categories including Customer Communications Management, Marketing Mix Modeling and U.S. Database Marketing Service Providers (see coverage of the Database Wave here). The reports provide an in-depth look into the back-end products that drive much of Direct Marketing News’ coverage. Vendors are ranked in four categories: Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders and Risky Bets (though you’ll hardly ever see a vendor ranked as a Risky Bet).
Forrester Research’s Web Analytics Wave was released on Oct. 6 and compiled by the brilliant Joseph Stanhope and equally brilliant David Frankland (as well as Michelle Dickson who I’m sure is brilliant but with whom I’ve never spoken).
Web Analytics technology platforms, as defined by the report, are products that help track campaigns and complex customer interactions across digital touchpoints, attribute the impact of activities on the business, and
continuously optimize tactics and strategies.
The research company ranked IBM atop the Wave due in large part to the company’s recent acquisitions of Coremetrics and Unica, according to the report.
Adobe followed IBM on the leaderboard with an offering that shows “a deep commitment to providing a comprehensive suite of products,” writes Stanhope.
Webtrends and comScore also rode the Wave into a leadership position with offerings that provide “a unique digital analytics user experience” and “a compelling vision of consolidating audience measurement and site analytics,” respectively.
AT Internet and Google were ranked as Strong Performers that “represent unique go-to-market strategies among the vendors evaluated.”
Yahoo was ranked as a Contender despite “lagg[ing] most other competitors in its pursuit of emerging media measurement and a broader online marketing tool set.”
To create the ranking, Forrester used vendor surveys, product demos, customer reference calls, and customer reference surveys. To be assessed, vendors must have in excess of $10 million in annual revenue and “a significant base of enterprise-class clients,” according to the report.
