Livonia , Mich. - Valassis, one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, gave summit attendees a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-available MarketExpert 6.1 release with its advanced analytics reporting. Currently used by 40 major retailers across the United States , Canada and Europe to help identify opportunities, optimize frequent shopper data and analyze the success of promotions, the latest version will be available in the first quarter of 2011.

AnalyticExpert, the new business intelligence module for the MarketExpert suite, was introduced at the Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems (VRMS) Emerging Marketing Technology Summit in Orlando , Florida . AnalyticExpert will allow for interactive analysis, published reporting, office suite integration and a personalized dashboard and scorecard. VRMS' software products are widely used retail customer relationship management (CRM) and targeting solutions, serving a wide range of retailers. VRMS is a Valassis company.

"We seek input from clients, take an in-depth look at the industry, and strive to make improvements that will provide retailers with a tool to best meet their marketing needs, and it's easy to use," said Steve Carrington, Valassis Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "These enhancements are smart, agile and aligned to help clients make better and actionable decisions."

MarketExpert 6.1 was just one of the emerging technologies and industry trends showcased at the conference. Industry leaders from CRM, social media, academia, media and information technology learned about:
- Media consumption today;
- Increased social media marketing;
- Trends in loyalty; and
- Consumer behavior after the economic storm.

Shareef Dajani of Yahoo! shared his insight on the future of targeting consumers. Drawing from his 18 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry, he addressed the changing media landscape, pointing out that the total hours consumed online from 2006 at 61% had increased to 73% in 2009 mainly as a result of the countless ways to consume media.  In turn, consumers are looking for more localized experiences through digital channels, he said.

Stephanie Kovner-Bryant , Senior Manager, Digital Shopper Marketing at Unilever,  s poke about social media as a vehicle for communication with the consumer. She also discussed how free geo-social mobile applications are allowing consumers to readily take advantage of and share local deals with friends. She encouraged the attendees to remain educated on all facets of the media landscape.

"There were three great days of sharing minds, thoughts and experiences," said Anders Livchitz, Head of CRM Strategies & Analyses, who attended from ICA , a Sweden-based grocer.