Oracle said it had acquired Collective Intellect, a social media analysis firm, just a day after Salesforce.com agreed to buy Buddy Media for $689 million.
In a presentation, Oracle said Collective Intellect had helped CNBC predict that a major discount retailer would not meet sales projections, based on scanning customers’ online messages.
“Gaining intelligence from consumer conversations across social media, and knowing customers’ intentions and interests, helps organizations create better products and deliver better service,” Thomas Kurian, an executive vice president for development at Oracle, said in a statement. “Collective Intellect’s leading cloud-based applications for social media monitoring, combined with Oracle’s social relationship platform, offers a complete social experience to our customers.”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/oracle-buys-collective-intellect-to-bolster-social-media-analysis/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkam_20120606
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2012
Salesforce.com to Buy Buddy Media for $689 Million
Salesforce.com, looking to enhance its social media offerings, has agreed to buy Buddy Media for $689 million.
With the acquisition, Salesforce.com will gain access to a blue-chip roster of social media clients, including Ford, Hewlett-Packard, L’Oreal and other major advertisers that work with Buddy Media on social media advertising. Buddy Media, started in 2007, works with customers to build campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, providing a platform for advertisers to publish content and monitor their social media efforts.
Salesforce has been active in the rapidly expanding space. Last year, the company purchased Radian6, which helps businesses measure their effectiveness on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The company is not alone in its quest to snatch up companies like Buddy Media. In May, Oracle reportedly paid $300 million for Vitrue, a social media marketing company. In January, Adobe acquired Efficient Frontier, a digital and social media advertising company.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/salesforce-com-to-buy-buddy-media-for-689-million/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkpm_20120604
With the acquisition, Salesforce.com will gain access to a blue-chip roster of social media clients, including Ford, Hewlett-Packard, L’Oreal and other major advertisers that work with Buddy Media on social media advertising. Buddy Media, started in 2007, works with customers to build campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, providing a platform for advertisers to publish content and monitor their social media efforts.
Salesforce has been active in the rapidly expanding space. Last year, the company purchased Radian6, which helps businesses measure their effectiveness on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The company is not alone in its quest to snatch up companies like Buddy Media. In May, Oracle reportedly paid $300 million for Vitrue, a social media marketing company. In January, Adobe acquired Efficient Frontier, a digital and social media advertising company.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/salesforce-com-to-buy-buddy-media-for-689-million/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkpm_20120604
Monday, July 18, 2011
Behind Big Fuel's Sale to Publicis Groupe
http://adage.com/article/agency-news/big-fuel-s-sale-publicis-groupe/228769/
Publicis has invested enough to be majority owner -- it has a 51% equity stake -- but it has the option to own the shop fully by 2014.
The deal demonstrates the urgency with which Madison Avenue believes it needs to be equipped to provide a range of digital and social-media solutions for its clients. And it also shows Publicis' seemingly insatiable appetite for acquisitions these days.
The ink is dry. A week after Ad Age reported the two companies were in talks, Publicis Groupe announced it has taken a majority stake in New York-based social media shop Big Fuel.
The deal demonstrates the urgency with which Madison Avenue believes it needs to be equipped to provide a range of digital and social-media solutions for its clients. And it also shows Publicis' seemingly insatiable appetite for acquisitions these days.
As part of the agreement, Big Fuel -- a relatively new, social media-only outfit helmed by longtime adman Jon Bond -- will fall under the Vivaki umbrella at Publicis as a social-media resource for existing agencies in the group, including Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia.
The shop has grown very quickly. Big Fuel has more than 170 employees today, up from 30 in early 2010. Revenue this year is expected to hit $30 million, up five times from 2010 revenue, according to a statement from Publicis. Big Fuel is social-media agency of record for T-Mobile and General Motors, a major client for Publicis. Investment bank Jordan Edmiston Group represented Big Fuel in the transaction.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Publicis Groupe in Talks to Acquire Big Fuel
http://adage.com/article/agency-news/publicis-groupe-talks-acquire-big-fuel/228698/
Publicis Groupe's Vivaki unit is in advanced talks to acquire Big Fuel, a New York-based social-media agency, Ad Age has learned.
Big Fuel CEO Jon Bond and a Vivaki spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Publicis Groupe's Vivaki unit is in advanced talks to acquire Big Fuel, a New York-based social-media agency, Ad Age has learned.
Big Fuel, which bills itself as a "pure-play social-media agency designed for the needs of large brands," shares a number of clients with Publicis Groupe. Among them are General Motors, McDonald's, Microsoft and T-Mobile, which just tapped Big Fuel to serve as its first social-media agency of record earlier this week. GM has been a transformative client for Big Fuel; new assignments from the automaker have forced the agency to increase headcount substantially in the last six months, according to two people briefed on the company.
Big Fuel CEO Jon Bond and a Vivaki spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Big Fuel was born in 2008, when TV producer Avi Savar renamed his existing broadcast production agency. Then focused on branded content, the agency has since evolved to handle social media for marketers.
The deal -- which people familiar with the situation say is in the advanced stages and could see a contract agreement materialize within a week -- comes as the third-largest agency holding company has expanded its budget for acquisitions, with a focus on digital companies and growing its footprint in China and other emerging markets.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
BzzAgent Sold to Tesco Unit, dunnhumby
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7424963977768217107
Boston social marketing company BzzAgent has been acquired by dunnhumby Ltd., a shopper data unit of U.K. retail giant Tesco, in a deal that underscores retailers’ growing interest in social media.
The transaction, under which BzzAgent will operate as a stand-alone business, is valued around $60 million to the company’s senior management and investors, said sources.
BzzAgent uses word-of-mouth recommendations to drive brand sales and was founded in 2001 by Dave Balter, who will remain CEO and will also join dunnhumby's executive team. Dunnhumby is behind Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty program and helps retailers create shopper-marketing programs through analysis of consumer buying behavior. Balter said he first contacted the U.K. firm as a way to increase BzzAgent's 'agent' base, beyond its current base of 800,000, and to utilize dunnhumby’s targeting and analytical capabilities to add scale and better measurement.
"They want to be more social; we want access to their customer base,” he said. “Consumer loyalty leads to advocacy which leads to loyalty."
BzzAgent works for marketers like Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, and Michelin. Dunnhumby was founded in 1989 by husband and wife team Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby. In addition to Tesco, the international firm works for other companies like The Kroger Co., Procter & Gamble, Shell, Coca-Cola, and Mars.
Boston social marketing company BzzAgent has been acquired by dunnhumby Ltd., a shopper data unit of U.K. retail giant Tesco, in a deal that underscores retailers’ growing interest in social media.
The transaction, under which BzzAgent will operate as a stand-alone business, is valued around $60 million to the company’s senior management and investors, said sources.
BzzAgent uses word-of-mouth recommendations to drive brand sales and was founded in 2001 by Dave Balter, who will remain CEO and will also join dunnhumby's executive team. Dunnhumby is behind Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty program and helps retailers create shopper-marketing programs through analysis of consumer buying behavior. Balter said he first contacted the U.K. firm as a way to increase BzzAgent's 'agent' base, beyond its current base of 800,000, and to utilize dunnhumby’s targeting and analytical capabilities to add scale and better measurement.
"They want to be more social; we want access to their customer base,” he said. “Consumer loyalty leads to advocacy which leads to loyalty."
BzzAgent works for marketers like Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, and Michelin. Dunnhumby was founded in 1989 by husband and wife team Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby. In addition to Tesco, the international firm works for other companies like The Kroger Co., Procter & Gamble, Shell, Coca-Cola, and Mars.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
YouTube Founders Acquire Web Analytics Firm
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/youtube-founders-acquire-web-analytics-firm/?nl=business&emc=dlbka22
Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the co-founders of YouTube, are on a shopping spree.
In late April, the pair announced plans to purchase Delicious, the online social bookmarking service, from Yahoo, saving it from closure.
Now, they’re adding another company to the mix. On Monday, they announced plans to purchase Tap11, an analytics firm that tracks social media.
Mr. Hurley said in a statement that the acquisition was another move toward the pair’s ultimate plan to “create the world’s best platform for users to save, share, and discover new content.”
Tap11 helps businesses understand what is being said about their companies on social media Web sites like as Twitter and Facebook. The purchase of Tap11 will allow the company to provide “powerful tools to publish and analyze their links’ impact in real-time.”
The price of the sale and other financial terms were not disclosed. Both companies will roll into Mr. Hurley and Mr. Chen’s newest venture, AVOS.
The news of Mr. Hurley and Mr. Chen’s purchasing plans has prompted tremendous interest in the tech world. The two men, who started YouTube in 2005, and sold it to Google a year later for a staggering $1.76 billion, have said they plan to keep Delicious, which allows people to make lists deals, of interesting Web sites and share them with friends, intact.
However, the Tap11 news suggests they have a bigger plan in mind to change the way people share content on the Web.
In late April, the pair announced plans to purchase Delicious, the online social bookmarking service, from Yahoo, saving it from closure.
Now, they’re adding another company to the mix. On Monday, they announced plans to purchase Tap11, an analytics firm that tracks social media.
Mr. Hurley said in a statement that the acquisition was another move toward the pair’s ultimate plan to “create the world’s best platform for users to save, share, and discover new content.”
Tap11 helps businesses understand what is being said about their companies on social media Web sites like as Twitter and Facebook. The purchase of Tap11 will allow the company to provide “powerful tools to publish and analyze their links’ impact in real-time.”
The price of the sale and other financial terms were not disclosed. Both companies will roll into Mr. Hurley and Mr. Chen’s newest venture, AVOS.
The news of Mr. Hurley and Mr. Chen’s purchasing plans has prompted tremendous interest in the tech world. The two men, who started YouTube in 2005, and sold it to Google a year later for a staggering $1.76 billion, have said they plan to keep Delicious, which allows people to make lists deals, of interesting Web sites and share them with friends, intact.
However, the Tap11 news suggests they have a bigger plan in mind to change the way people share content on the Web.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Social media ad spending to hit $8.3 billion by 2015
http://www.dmnews.com/social-media-ad-spending-to-hit-83-billion-by-2015-report/article/201973/
Social media advertising spending will increase from $2.1 billion in 2010 to $8.3 billion by 2015, according to a report released by research firm BIA/Kelsey on May 2. The “US Local Media Annual Forecast (2010-2015)” also forecast a 1% decline in traditional advertising spending, falling to $115.7 billion in 2015.
Jed Williams, a BIA/Kelsey analyst and program director of the firm's Social Local Media service, said social media gives advertisers the ability to target consumers and measure performance.
“The bottom line is if you can multitarget and you can target down at a really granular level, you have a better chance of knowing exactly who your message is reaching and how they're engaging with it,” said Williams.
BIA/Kelsey considers only social media display advertising and non-display advertising, such as Twitter's Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends; it does not account for social commerce, social marketing, social gaming or virtual goods and rewards.
Additionally, the report found that social media's share of digital advertising budgets will more than double to 21.9% by 2015. Digital advertising's share of total advertising budgets is also expected to nearly double to 24.7% in the next three to four years.
“We think [Facebook's percentage of display ad impressions] will reach a majority share by 2014-2015,” he said.
According to comScore, Facebook generated more than 33% of all US online display ad impressions in February 2011.
Jed Williams, a BIA/Kelsey analyst and program director of the firm's Social Local Media service, said social media gives advertisers the ability to target consumers and measure performance.
“The bottom line is if you can multitarget and you can target down at a really granular level, you have a better chance of knowing exactly who your message is reaching and how they're engaging with it,” said Williams.
BIA/Kelsey considers only social media display advertising and non-display advertising, such as Twitter's Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends; it does not account for social commerce, social marketing, social gaming or virtual goods and rewards.
Additionally, the report found that social media's share of digital advertising budgets will more than double to 21.9% by 2015. Digital advertising's share of total advertising budgets is also expected to nearly double to 24.7% in the next three to four years.
“We think [Facebook's percentage of display ad impressions] will reach a majority share by 2014-2015,” he said.
According to comScore, Facebook generated more than 33% of all US online display ad impressions in February 2011.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Salesforce to acquire social metrics company Radian6
http://www.btobonline.com/article/20110330/SOCIAL07/303309989/salesforce-to-acquire-social-metrics-company-radian6
Customer relationship management company Salesforce.com—which hasrapidly become much more than a CRM company—plans to acquire social media monitoring company Radian6 for $326 million in cash and stock.
Radian6 is a leader in the social media marketing ROI arena, offering dashboards and social keyword sentiment analysis. It boasts such customers as Dell Inc., Eastman Kodak Co. and United Parcel Service. The deal is expected to close this summer.
Customer relationship management company Salesforce.com—which hasrapidly become much more than a CRM company—plans to acquire social media monitoring company Radian6 for $326 million in cash and stock.
Radian6 is a leader in the social media marketing ROI arena, offering dashboards and social keyword sentiment analysis. It boasts such customers as Dell Inc., Eastman Kodak Co. and United Parcel Service. The deal is expected to close this summer.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Marketers Aren't Sure About ROI but Will Spend More on Social Media, WFA Says
All but one of 24 marketers surveyed in a new report from the World Federation of Advertisers and WPP research firm Millward Brown is committed to increasing the time and money they spend on social media in the next 12 months, even if they don't think they can accurately measure the results.
Marketers surveyed said their fan pages are about generating insight, advocacy, loyalty and engagement -- but not necessarily sales -- from their fans. Only 23% of respondents said they were convinced that they were getting a good return on their investment, while 18% said they think their ROI is "average" and 9% described it as "poor."
http://adage.com/article/global-news/marketers-spend-social-media-wfa/149567/
Marketers surveyed said their fan pages are about generating insight, advocacy, loyalty and engagement -- but not necessarily sales -- from their fans. Only 23% of respondents said they were convinced that they were getting a good return on their investment, while 18% said they think their ROI is "average" and 9% described it as "poor."
http://adage.com/article/global-news/marketers-spend-social-media-wfa/149567/
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Context Optional Acquires Buzzeo, Leading Platform for Creating Facebook Applications
http://www.contextoptional.com/company/press-releases/3090-press-release-context-optional-acquires-buzzeo-leading-platform-for-creating-facebook-applications
Context Optional, the social marketing company, today announced the acquisition of unwrap, inc., makers of Buzzeo. The move expands Context Optional’s leadership position in providing comprehensive social marketing solutions for brands. The Buzzeo platform enables companies to engage customers on Facebook with a variety of easy-to-deploy applications including e-commerce virtual goods, polls and product listings, among others. The company’s app platform is a natural complement to Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite, a highly customizable, feature-rich SaaS solution that integrates publishing, moderation, analytics and app-building into a single tool. As part of the acquisition, the Buzzeo team, including co-founders Waynn Lue and Joshua Reeves, will be joining Context Optional and taking on leadership roles in product development, marketing and engineering. Buzzeo will remain a standalone product and now be offered to customers free of charge.
Context Optional, the social marketing company, today announced the acquisition of unwrap, inc., makers of Buzzeo. The move expands Context Optional’s leadership position in providing comprehensive social marketing solutions for brands. The Buzzeo platform enables companies to engage customers on Facebook with a variety of easy-to-deploy applications including e-commerce virtual goods, polls and product listings, among others. The company’s app platform is a natural complement to Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite, a highly customizable, feature-rich SaaS solution that integrates publishing, moderation, analytics and app-building into a single tool. As part of the acquisition, the Buzzeo team, including co-founders Waynn Lue and Joshua Reeves, will be joining Context Optional and taking on leadership roles in product development, marketing and engineering. Buzzeo will remain a standalone product and now be offered to customers free of charge.
Involver Celebrates 100,000 Customers with $8 Million Series C Funding Round
Involver Inc., the web’s most widely used social-media platform, announced today that it has surpassed 100,000 customers and closed an $8M series C funding round, led by venture firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors Cervin Ventures and Western Technology Investment also participated. The new capital will be used to fuel Involver’s growth initiatives and continue to expand the company’s social marketing platform.
http://www.involver.com/press-releases/oct-14-2010/
http://www.involver.com/press-releases/oct-14-2010/
Forrester: 2011: Now Social Media Marketing Gets Tough
New social spam filters will stop many of your tweets and status updates from reaching consumers
Growing mistrust will make it harder to gather friends and followers or get them engaged in your social programs
The most successful marketing programs won’t be contained within Facebook
http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/11-01-04-2011_social_media_predictions_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/2011_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough/q/id/57771/t/2
Growing mistrust will make it harder to gather friends and followers or get them engaged in your social programs
The most successful marketing programs won’t be contained within Facebook
http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/11-01-04-2011_social_media_predictions_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/2011_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough/q/id/57771/t/2
Buddy Media Closes $23 Million Series C to Fund Massive Expansion
http://www.buddymedia.com/newsroom/2010/10/buddy-media-announces-23-million-series-c-funding/
Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for seven of the ten world’s largest advertisers, today announced it has raised $23 million in Series C funding to fuel its continued growth.
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), which has funded many of the best known digital brands like Netflix, Twitter and Zynga, led the new round and was joined by existing Buddy Media investors, including Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners and Bay Partners.
Buddy Media’s Facebook management system, The Buddy Media Platform, is web-based marketing software that provides companies global scale, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools to connect with their current and future customers using the power of Facebook’s 550-million strong and growing social network.
Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for seven of the ten world’s largest advertisers, today announced it has raised $23 million in Series C funding to fuel its continued growth.
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), which has funded many of the best known digital brands like Netflix, Twitter and Zynga, led the new round and was joined by existing Buddy Media investors, including Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners and Bay Partners.
Buddy Media’s Facebook management system, The Buddy Media Platform, is web-based marketing software that provides companies global scale, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools to connect with their current and future customers using the power of Facebook’s 550-million strong and growing social network.
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