SAN MATEO, Calif. and SYDNEY, Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, the leading provider of cloud-based marketing software, today opens its newest international headquarters in Sydney, Australia. Aden Forrest, the newly appointed managing director of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), will lead Marketo's second overseas hub and establish a full-scale Marketo operation including sales, marketing and support staff.

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Since its European office was founded in Ireland last year, Marketo has seen an explosion of growth outside the U.S.; its EMEA customer base grew 50% more in the first half of 2012 than in the six months prior. With ongoing successes in the U.S. and abroad, Marketo aims to catalyze marketing innovation in a region that has devoured sales and CRM technology.

Marketo is one of the first international cloud-based marketing software vendor to plant roots in ANZ, a region increasingly developing ever-more sophisticated marketing strategies and voraciously responding to cloud technology – especially CRM leader salesforce.com. Marketo already serves 50+ enterprise and SMB customers in ANZ, such as Ansell, Australian Associated Press, Navitas, Melbourne IT, Macquarie Telecom, thanks to a strategic location  partnership with Asia Pacific's fastest growing data-driven marketing automation agency; Datarati.

"Datarati's phenomenal results, salesforce.com's local cloud pioneering and our existing successes in Europe and North America all validate the need for a strong Marketo presence in ANZ," said Phil Fernandez, president and CEO of Marketo. "We're investing heavily in our Sydney operations to offer the range of operations for our customers because we believe so strongly in the potential market. Aden will grow Marketo's ANZ presence from the ground up, and we expect great things from him and the community of marketers in this region."

Forrest is responsible for all revenue generation activities for Marketo in ANZ, including sales, marketing, customer success and renewals. He has already successfully helped introduced two other companies to the ANZ market, salesforce.com and Siebel, driving rapid success for both organisations. Forrest also held leadership positions at Oracle and E.piphany in both APAC and EMEA, ultimately bringing over 20 years of rich experience in national and global business strategy, cloud technology, marketing and sales to Marketo.

"Marketo's deep, no-holds-barred commitment to ANZ means our customers and partners will reap the benefits from having attentive and dedicated local personnel who understand the nuances of this market and the unique needs of ANZ marketers," said Forrest. "In a highly competitive market like ANZ, companies must do a lot with limited resources. This expansion will help more marketers access capabilities once thought unattainable and produce results to drive rapid revenue growth."

The Social Marketing Rockstar Tour Marketo's marquee summer event for marketing professionals will make its first-ever stop in Sydney in October 2012. Derek Laney, director product marketing management – Salesforce Marketing Cloud, headlines the Australian event that will gather marketing professionals to share best practices on social marketing, lead generation, sales effectiveness and more.

Be sure to register for Marketo's first ever Social Marketing Conference in Australia, on Wednesday October 10^th, 2012.

About Marketo: Easy, Powerful, Complete. 
Marketo uniquely provides easy-to-use, powerful and complete marketingsoftware that propels fast-growing small companies and global enterprises alike. Marketo's marketing automation and sales effectiveness software – including the world's first integrated solution for socialmarketing automation – streamlines marketing processes, delivers more campaigns, generates more win-ready leads, and dramatically improves sales performance. With proven technology, comprehensive services and expert guidance, Marketo helps thousands of companies around the world turn marketing from a cost center into a revenuedriver.

Known for providing breakthrough innovation and fueling explosive growth, Marketo was recently named one of "America's Most Promising Companies" "by Forbes, the #1 Marketing Software Vendor on the INC 500, and #1 fastest-growing private company of 2011 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.  In both 2011 and 2012 the company received the CRM Market Leaders Awards Winner for Marketing Solutions by CRM Magazine. Salesforce.com customers also honored the company with two AppExchange Best of '11 Awards, for Best Marketing Automation Solution and Best Chatter Exchange.  

Marketo and the Marketo logo are trademarks of Marketo, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Marketo