A $4.3 billion company, AOL is one of the world's most successful internet service providers, delivering online content and communication tools to millions of users worldwide on a daily basis.

Business Challenge

Member retention is essential to the success of the world's most recognizable internet service provider. AOL marketing managers, however, were unable to launch their retention campaigns with the speed required to most efficiently connect with its members. As well, it was all but impossible to refine retention campaigns that had already been deployed. Two attempts to fix this problem - one "off the shelf" application and the other a custom application development project from a Command Information competitor, had previously failed. Undaunted, AOL turned to Command Information to quickly develop a solution which would help maximize customer retention.

How Command Information Helped

The rapidly-developed solution, which bested the two previous efforts, was developed with Command Information' agile methodology, VALID™. The Command Information team designed and developed Airacomet, a software application that gave retention campaign analysts the desired ability to quickly define and launch elaborate marketing campaigns. The tool, based on an integrated development environment paradigm, automatically translates marketing concepts from the preliminary creative vision into machine-understandable XML language for quick execution. It is, in effect, a translator that turns ideas into action.

Value Delivered

Airacomet transformed a once-manual process that took weeks and months into an automatic, real-time ability. Now AOL marketing campaign analysts are able to scrutinize the most essential, value-added aspects of their initiatives, concentrating on membership retention instead of enduring extended development cycles.