Olympus Corporation of the Americas Scores a Second Achievement Award Using Lyris HQ for Innovative Email Marketing Campaign

EMERYVILLE, Calif., May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB: LYRI.OB), the online marketing expert, today announced that its customer Olympus Corporation of the Americas was awarded the 2011 Internet Advertising Competition Award in the category of Best Electronics Email Message from submission of its business-to-consumer product launch email campaign for its new Olympus E-5 digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera.  Delivering approximately 45,000 emails for this campaign, Olympus achieved an open rate of 51 percent, unique clicks of 21 percent and a click-through rate of 41.2 percent all above typical industry standards for business-to-consumer campaigns.  This award complements the Marketing Sherpa silver award for Best Email Innovation in January 2011.

"We knew the potential customer for this camera would be both creative and highly interested in the product, so we designed an email that went beyond our standard layout.  By presenting photographer testimonials in a wideformat, horizontally scrolling manner, we developed an email unique from previous projects," said Jim Harper, senior emarketing analyst, Olympus Corporation of the Americas.  "Using Lyris HQ, we were able to target delivery to specific segments of our total audience, ensuring relevancy and leading to strong results."

"Olympus has been a Lyris customer since 2008, sending approximately 750,000 emails per month.  Their emails are customer-focused in design and they use segmentation successfully to ensure relevancy of the message- a critical element tied to higher open rates and overall business effectiveness," said Tina Stewart, senior vice president, marketing, Lyris, Inc.  "We congratulate Olympus for their award winning campaigns and look forward to continuing our innovation together."

Lyris HQ is a high-performance hosted email marketing platform that integrates social, mobile, search, analytics and diagnostics.  Robust features include automated email delivery and advanced segmentation to maximize the effectiveness of email campaigns, and a performance dashboard for a snapshot on results.  Lyris offers professional services that can help customers achieve better email deliverability, smooth database integration, search marketing enhancements, and more.

About Olympus

Olympus is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering innovative solutions in its core business areas: Medical and Surgical Products, Life Science Imaging Systems, Industrial Measurement and Imaging Instruments and Cameras and Audio Products.

Olympus works collaboratively with its customers and affiliates worldwide to leverage R&D investment in precision technology and manufacturing processes across diverse business lines. These include:

• Gastrointestinal endoscopes, accessories, and minimally invasive surgical products;
• Advanced research, clinical and educational microscopes and research and educational digital imaging systems;
• Industrial research, engineering, test, inspection and measuring instruments; and
• Digital cameras and voice recorders.

Olympus serves the healthcare field with integrated product solutions and financial, educational and consulting services that help customers to efficiently, reliably and more easily achieve exceptional results. Olympus develops breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality for the consumer and professional photography markets, and also is the leader in gastrointestinal endoscopy and clinical and educational microscopes. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.

About Internet Advertising Competition (IAC)

The Web Marketing Association (WMA) was founded in Boston in 1997 to help set a high standard for Internet marketing and corporate web development on the World Wide Web. Staffed by volunteers, this organization is made up of Internet marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest for improving the quality of advertising, marketing and promotion used to attract visitors to corporate Web sites. http://www.advertisingcompetition.org/iac/whyiac.asp

About Lyris, Inc.

Lyris, Inc. is the online marketing expert delivering the right mix of software technology and industry knowledge to help its customers simplify their marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Through its on-demand integrated marketing suite, Lyris HQ, and reliable on-premise solutions, including Lyris ListManager, Lyris provides customers the right tools to optimize their online and mobile marketing initiatives. http://www.lyris.com

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SOURCE Lyris, Inc.