Bridgestone/Firestone's Retail Division Selects RTMS Inc.
21 April 1999
Bridgestone/Firestone's Retail Division Selects RTMS Inc. to Improve Customer Relationship Management; Retail Expertise and Ease-of-Use Were Key Differentiators
MILWAUKEE--April 20, 1999--Retail Target Marketing System (RTMS), the industry's leading provider of customer relationship management solutions, today announced that the retail division of Bridgestone/Firestone (BFS) based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has chosen RTMS to help the tire and automotive service giant communicate more effectively with its 17 million retail customers. RTMS' solutions will enable the company to segment and measure targeted promotions and marketing campaigns that improve individual customer communication and strengthen loyalty.The division will use RTMS' flagship software, Archer, to manage more than 230 million customer purchase details from more than 1,500 retail outlets nationwide, including Firestone Tire Service Centers, Tire Station, Mark Morris and Expert Tire. Archer is the only individualized marketing solution that enables businesses to analyze customer purchase information at the exact transaction detail level. With this previously unavailable degree of customer intimacy, the tire and automotive service retailer will be able to develop customized customer communications to suit the interests of extremely narrow groups or even single customers.
RTMS' consulting services group will help BFS' retail organization move to a customer-centric vision across the entire enterprise. It will design and implement innovative customer-focused programs and provide the strategic and tactical guidance needed to begin achieving immediate results from database marketing programs.
RTMS was among 16 leading database marketing vendors considered by BFS and was selected as the winning solution from a pool of four finalists. It was the only vendor with an extensive retail background, providing exact transaction analysis, fast frequent information updates, start-to-finish campaign management capabilities and overall ease-of-use.
"Communicating with our customers as individuals is the most effective way to build lifetime customer relationships that directly impact the bottom line," said Jim Stahulak, manager of database marketing and market research at Bridgestone/Firestone's retail headquarters. "RTMS was the only company that provided technological superiority, backed by years of retail expertise."
About the Companies:
RTMS is a leading provider of fully integrated customer relationship management solutions for individualized marketing. The company also provides value-added consulting services and production management systems to customer-oriented business of all kinds. Its Archer Software is used by major companies that need to rapidly launch, measure and refine customized marketing initiatives to maintain their market leadership. Clients include Kohl's Department Stores, Sears Canada, Carson Pirie Scott, Filene's Basement and Saks Inc. The company, founded in 1989, is based in Milwaukee, Wis., and is privately held. It can be reached at www.rtms.com.
Bridgestone/Firestone is the largest subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp., the world's largest tire and rubber company. BFS develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton, private brand and house brand tires, as well as a wide range of industrial and synthetic rubber goods. It operates over 1500 company owned tire and automotive service centers across the country, including Firestone Tire and Service Center, Tire Station, Mark Morris, and Expert Tire. The company can be reached at www.bridgestone.com.