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In US, New Turn Audience Platform Winter 2012 Release Includes Enhanced Analysis & Forecasting Tools

REDWOOD CITY, CA –February 1, 2012 – Turn today introduced an upgrade to its cloud-based Turn Audience Platform, which gives marketers the most complete picture of their customer segments. The Winter 2012 release provides better control over allocation of budget and the design of custom audience segments, as well as greater customer reach.

“Today’s consumers are engaging with brands across a variety of devices and channels, generating siloed pockets of valuable information from those interactions. The Winter 2012 enhancements to Turn Audience Platform enable marketers to break down these silos and get a more complete picture of their customers across multiple media channels. Marketers can use real-time insights to build stronger, more profitable customer relationships,” said Bill Demas [pictured], president and chief executive officer, Turn. More…

In US, eXelate Announces Alliance with Nielsen Catalina Solutions

Next Step in Work with Nielsen to Integrate Data Sources Empowers CPG Marketers To More Effectively Reach Consumers Based on Actual Purchase Habits

NEW YORK (January 31, 2012) — eXelate and Nielsen Catalina Solutions, two leading players in the shopper insights, data marketing and online advertising industries, are joining forces to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers reach consumers with more relevant digital advertising that is based on actual in-store purchasing behavior. This alliance is an extension of work first announced in early 2010 by eXelate and Nielsen.

“Teaming with eXelate allows us to increase the online consumption of our most valuable assets, our data and advertising effectiveness analytics,” said Nielsen Catalina Solutions CEO Mike Nazzaro [pictured, left]. “eXelate gives us technology to centralize and easily package, price and promote our high-value data across multiple channels. Most important however, is that Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ analytics will help CPG advertisers achieve and potentially exceed their digital advertising ROI goals by empowering them to reach audiences based on actual purchase data to help make better marketing decisions.”

“We’re thrilled that Nielsen Catalina Solutions will also now use eXelate’s platform as the technology backbone for developing a critical component of its data marketing strategy,” said Mark S. Zagorski [pictured, right], CEO of eXelate. “eXelate will enable the company to productize its audience data, and seamlessly deliver it in a privacy-friendly manner, thereby creating new and sustainable revenue streams.”  More...

In US, Merkle Acquires Social Amp, Leading Facebook Open-Graph Developer

Columbia, MD - February 1, 2012 -  Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading customer relationship marketing firm and the nation’s largest privately-held agency, announced that it has acquired New York-based Social Amp, a recognized authority in Facebook Open Graph marketing and OAuth solutions for Fortune 500 brands and global agencies. The acquisition supports Merkle’s ongoing strategy to expand its capabilities in the area of digital marketing and to further strengthen its connected CRM approach.

“The addition of Social Amp’s site socialization solution to the Merkle family will present our clients with new insights into how social behaviors influence the consumer decision-making process on websites,” said David Williams [pictured], chairman and CEO of Merkle. “It brings the power of Facebook Open Graph data into the brand site to enhance consumer experience and ecommerce. The capability is a perfect fit within Merkle, as it is rooted in information, analytics, technology and ultimately, marketing performance.” More…

In Australia, Ogilvy & Mather buys 33.3% stake in DTDigital

SYDNEY, January 18, 2012 – Ogilvy & Mather announced today that it has acquired a 33.3% position in STW’s leading digital communications firm, DTDigital. DTDigital, one of Australia’s largest and most successful digital agencies, joined STW Group in 2003 and during the next eight years grew revenues from $1 million per annum to forecast revenue for 2012 of $14 million. Clients include Bunnings, Myer and NAB.

“Ogilvy knows brand, social and CRM while DTDigital provides great digital, channel and technology skills making the combination a winning formula. We have worked in partnership for the past four years and acquiring part of DTDigital cements that relationship, allowing us to offer first class integrated digital to clients inside Australia and across Asia,” said Paul Heath [pictured, left], CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. More...

STW Group CEO Mike Connaghan [pictured, right] said: “It’s not in our nature to sell parts of our prized assets but the logic in this instance was overwhelming. DTDigital already partners closely with Ogilvy Group Melbourne, and there are intentions to expand this partnership with Ogilvy to other markets. The integrated nature of many of our client campaigns make it absolutely right for Ogilvy that we have DTDigital even further aligned with that business. It’s a good deal for all stakeholders.” More...

In US, Nimble Marks Successful Launch Year with Dynamic Growth, Seed Investment and Accolades

Google Ventures, Mark Cuban Lead $1 Million Seed Round in Nimble's Social Business Vision

Santa Monica, CA – Jan. 5, 2012 – Nimble, the award-winning social business platform, today announced it has capped a successful initial launch year, resulting in $1 million in funding from Google Ventures and angel investors including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis, Don Dodge, Dharmesh Shah, and others. To date, Nimble has achieved significant growth milestones, including global expansion and market penetration in Europe and Asia Pacific with more than 25,000 users, 2,700 companies supported by 250 solution partners. 

“The year 2011 has been a landmark year for Nimble,” said Jon Ferrara, CEO, Nimble. “When we introduced Nimble, we promised our customers a new way of doing social business by empowering them to listen,  engage, embrace, enchant, and grow their customer relationships. We delivered on that promise with a revolutionary CRM platform where small- to medium-sized businesses can easily transform their social communities into customersfor life.” More…

In US, Lithium Technologies Raises $53.4 Million in Financing

Funding Led by NEA includes SAP Ventures along with Existing Lithium Investors

Emeryville, Calif. - January 5, 2012 – Lithium Technologies, the leader in Social Customer Experience, today announced that it has completed a $53.4 million round of financing, led by prominent new investor New Enterprise Associates and including new investor SAP Ventures as well as all existing Lithium investors and several key industry advisors. The financing round will accelerate Lithium’s growth and cement its leadership position in the fast-growing market for cloud-based Social Customer Experience solutions.

Lithium President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Tarkoff [pictured], said: "This successful funding round will help us extend our leadership in the Social Customer Experience market, giving us both the operational flexibility and financial strength to double our company in 2012. It's clear that brands will continue to go social in an even bigger way in 2012 and beyond. It's equally clear that Lithium is incredibly well positioned to drive this transformation."  More...

In US, SocialWhirled Brings Missing Piece to Social Campaign Platforms

The all-inclusive solution gives brands not only innovative technology, but personal, unparalleled customer support

NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Conversation, LLC, a NYC-based full-service Ad Agency, announces the launch of SocialWhirled, LLC, a one-stop social campaign platform.

SocialWhirled provides the opportunity for brands and causes to build meaningful campaigns that identify and leverage the specific interests of fans.  It allows brands to simultaneously launch integrated campaigns on Mobile, Facebook and Web - driving quality interactive experiences with the top social networks.

"SocialWhirled not only provides the technology to incorporate all platforms," says CEO Andrew Lombard, "but also provides exceptional customer service and support. We go against the 'software as a service' belief to provide greater personalization. Our professionals help brands manage their campaigns from beginning to end." More...

Managing Data For Sales Conversion

Tim Altier [pictured], Director of Business Analytics and Insight of Bridgz Marketing Group writes at MediaPost: A data dive into a customer’s history, purchase habits and channel preferences is like a treasure-trove that can be utilized to enhance the connection with the customer.

Building a data management system that is streamlined for sales conversion and customer engagement isn’t a simple proposition.

By skillfully managing customer data, marketers can create an analytics infrastructure that feeds intelligent data into marketing programs, helping create an emotional link to the customer. More...

In US, Salesforce.com Unveils New Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud

Now, social enterprises can revolutionize their marketing by leveraging new functionality across social monitoring, insights, engagement, workflow and websites

More than 2,500 customers, including GEICO, Southwest Airlines and Pizza Hut, are now using Salesforce Radian6

NEW YORK – CLOUDFORCE 2011 – Nov. 30, 2011 – Salesforce.com [NYSE: CRM], the enterprise cloud computing (http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/) company, today unveiled the Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud. The Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud extends the social enterprise to marketing with new features in social monitoring, insights, engagement, workflow and websites. Together these innovations will let companies turn millions of social conversations about their products, brand and industry into dynamic engagements that strengthen customer relationships.

“Social media is the single biggest change in marketing in the last decade. Social enterprises recognize that social media provides real-time opportunities to delight customers and prospects. The Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud will enable every company to be at the forefront of this exciting industry shift,” said Marcel LeBrun [pictured], SVP and GM for Salesforce Radian6. More…

In US, Media Logic Launches Its Retail Social Juice Index

At Media Logic Blog, Dave McMahon, Creative Director of Media Logic, announces: Just in time for this kickoff to the holiday shopping season, Media Logic introduces the Retail Social Juice Index (RSJI) — a revolutionary new tool optimized for retailers seeking a simple metric of the level of social engagement between themselves and their customers. The RSJI measures social engagement for more than 500 top retailers across multiple interactions on Facebook and Twitter, and then distills the data into a single useful number. More..

“We’ve been working on this for more than a year,” said David Schultz [pictured], Media Logic president. “We have designed the Index specifically for national retailers, but we think businesses and institutions of all sorts will find it quite valuable.”  More...