Middleberg 1.2.1 Taps Delano for Marketing Technology

Delano has landed Middleberg Euro RSCG’s new interactive agency as a partner, enabling the Canadian marketing and e-business technology firm to market to the agency’s clients.

I-shop Middleberg 1.2.1 will offer Toronto-based Delano’s online customer retention product, Consumer Velocity, to clients as a result of the deal. The software includes email marketing, surveys, newsletters and Web customer service tools.

The firms say the partnership, unveiled this week, combines Middleberg’s marketing consulting Delano’s e-CRM technology to offer a unified solution for managing full-scale marketing operations.

“Delano and Middleberg are founded on the same guiding principals: to drive bottom-line results for our customers. These and the other tremendous synergies between our two companies will enable us to deliver a well-rounded set of marketing services that drive greater return on our customer’s investments and foster long-term customer loyalty,” said Middleberg 1.2.1 general manager Chris Hayes.

“Delano has been very successful in delivering solutions that enable enterprises to intelligently manage all aspects of customer interaction, and are now providing Middleberg with the enabling technology to close the loop on our customer’s online marketing initiatives.”

Delano already handles some big clients — like Charles Schwab, Macromedia and Nortel Networks — with its other main business, e-commerce tools, but this week’s deal is aimed at boosting sales of its marketing technology. New York-based Middleberg 1.2.1’s client roster includes BMG, Sony and Nickelodeon. Delano is also a client of Middleberg 1.2.1’s search engine optimization business.

“As an industry-leading interactive marketing agency, Middleberg is now well positioned to provide joint customers with the expertise required to analyze, define, create, and execute on their marketing programs,” said Delano president and chief executive John Foresi. “While our partnership enables each of us to focus on our domain expertise, we are able to come together to deliver a seamless offering that not only takes customer interaction to the next level, but also sets the standard for turnkey online marketing solutions.”

Middleberg 1.2.1 launched earlier this year, spun off from strategic marketing firm Middleberg Euro RCSG in October.

A partnership deal like this also could serve to boost the interactive agency’s product lineup without a serious outlay of time, talent or cash — key in a time when I-shops are getting hammered with revenue shortcomings. A crowd of agencies have missed estimates, suffered severe downgrades, and/or announced sizable restructurings, including iXL, Razorfish, marchFIRST, Xpedior, U.S. Interactive, Luminant, Organic, Viant and Scient. However, Middleberg 1.2.1 has said its specialties lie more in online direct marketing than systems integration, typically a large portion of these firms’ businesses.