Marathon Innovations Inc. next week will introduce amarketing automation product aimed at bringing order andefficiency to creating and approving marketing materials.Marathon's SmartPath MAS (marketing automation software) isintended to help marketing departments produce materialssuch as brochures, marketing collateral, advertisements, andWeb sites. It uses a set of workflows to move the projectamong editorial, production, executives, and outsideagencies.

The technology brings order to a process that has beenchaotic at best, says VF Corp., a retailer in Wyomissing,Pa., that owns such brands as Lee Jeans, Wrangler, andPlaytex. The company is deploying SmartPath to help itautomate Web site creation and the production of otherdocuments to give users a standardized process and help themtrack photos, text, and approvals necessary for the project."Having all of these things literally at your fingertips onyour desktop is a huge benefit," says Amy Robinson, E-commerce manager for VF's IT division. "We're not runningaround looking for missing photos or papers." SmartPath hashelped VF reduce its production cycle time by 40%, which hasled to a corresponding cost savings.

SmartPath is available immediately, starting at $125,000 for50 users, training, and a year's maintenance.