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In US, Webtrends to Invest $7 Million in 2012, Enjoys Astounding Growth of 418 Percent

Webtrends Expanding IP Footprint in Pacific Northwest by Adding 35 Engineers

02/03/2012 | Portland, OR - Webtrends, the global leader in unified mobile, social and web analytics and engagement, announced today that it is taking aggressive steps to foster IP growth and innovation by adding dozens of talented engineers to the company roster. Over the course of 2012, Webtrends will put $7 million dollars toward the hiring of more than 50 new positions, including 35 in engineering and four in marketing, and significantly increasing program spend.

“Over the last three years Webtrends has focused aggressively on out-innovating the market, particularly in rich and emerging media channels,” explains Alex Yoder [pictured], Chief Executive Officer of Webtrends. “We are the natural pure play in analytics and personalization, providing real time relevance to our customers and driving remarkable ROI. As such, we are excited to extend our commitment to accelerating our leadership position and remain in the driver’s seat of change within our industry. We will be adding more of the best and the brightest people, ranging from seasoned executives to recent graduates. Top tier talent is and will always be the cornerstone of Webtrends’ success.” More…

Influence Is More Than A Score

Peyman Nilforoush [pictured], co-founder and CEO of NetShelter Technology writes at Online Media Daily: There is no denying that brands will continue to invest in influencer marketing programs; however, they must realize that influence goes beyond a score. It is about using content to establish a deeper and more intelligent connection with an audience. And it is those authors who are the true influencers that deserve attention. More…

Rooting Out Worst Practices

Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics, and Measurement for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, writes at MediaPost :

Welcome to one of our first New Year’s reminders. Perhaps we can make 2012 the year when “Best Practices for Conducting Online Ad Effectiveness Research” become standard operating procedures. And, in a year of action, let’s encourage the vendors to do the research on research that the esteemed Dr. Paul Lavrakas recommended in his 2010 “An Evaluation of Methods Used to Assess the Effectiveness of Advertising on the Internet.”  More...

In US, Thismoment Acquires Position2 Brand Monitor

Thismoment Adds Social Monitoring and Engagement to Market Leading Social Content Management System for Brands

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 9, 2012) - thismoment, Inc., a provider of social content management software for brands that want to rapidly and effectively engage consumers across social and mobile platforms, today announced that it has acquired Position2 Brand Monitor, a leading social media monitoring and engagement platform. Position2 Brand Monitor will rebrand as thismoment Brand Monitor.

Vince Broady [pictured, left], CEO and Founder, thismoment said: "We are thrilled to acquire such an advanced technology platform and team as we continue our drive to provide the strongest, most powerful brand management solution available to enterprise customers. As we look to expand internationally, Brand Monitor also provides us with close to 500 customers around the globe, with a particularly strong footprint in Asia. With the addition of Brand Monitor, thismoment DEC customers will now, better than ever, listen, discover and engage with their audiences on social media networks, and have an enhanced understanding of marketing campaign performance with conversation metrics, including volumes, sentiment, and share of voice."  

Rajiv Parikh [pictured, right], CEO, Position2 adds: "We think our customers will significantly benefit from this acquisition and we couldn't be more pleased about this acquisition by thismoment, one of the fastest growing social content management firms for brands. With our technology, DEC will now be the most complete social media marketing solution on the market. Enterprise customers will now have a better understanding of marketing campaign performance, can move more quickly to leverage trends, can track conversations to better understand market sentiment and can drive higher message retention."  More...

Connecting and Engaging with Digital Indian Consumers

NielsenWire: With 50+ million active social media users, Indians spend more time on social media than on any other activity on the Internet, according to Nielsen. But is this audience engaged?

At the Nielsen Consumer 360 Conference in New Delhi, India, Farshad Family [pictured], Nielsen Managing Director of Media, discussed how brands can effectively break away from the pack in order to differentiate and improve social media engagement levels. More...

In US, Accenture, comScore, and dunnhumbyUSA Study Shows Direct Correlation Between CPG Brand Website Usage and In-Store Purchase Behavior

CPG Brand Website Visitors Spend 37% More on the Brand and 53% More on Product Category in Retail Store

Website Features that Attract Visitors Include Compelling Brand Value Messages Updated on a Frequent Basis Along with Content that Engages Visitors

RESTON, VA, January 30, 2012 – A groundbreaking study from Accenture (NYSE: ACN), comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), and dunnhumbyUSA aimed at helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers better understand the link between consumers’ usage of brand websites and their in-store brand buying behavior found that visitors to CPG brand websites buy 37% more in retail stores than non-visitors to the brand site. The study, Are Your CPG Brands Maximizing the Return on Your Digital Investment?, also concluded, that to maximize impact, website content needs to be updated regularly and contain brand value messaging that both engages visitors while also providing compelling reasons for them to purchase the brand at retail.

“CPG marketers currently invest millions of dollars in their brand websites, and the results of this study confirm the importance of this investment. Brand websites can attract and influence the behavior of the most valuable segments of any brand’s franchise,” said comScore vice president Mike Zeman [pictured, leftmost].

John LaRocca [pictured, center], Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at dunnhumbyUSA, noted: “The Accenture / comScore / dunnhumbyUSA research highlights the significant yet underutilized potential of brand websites and digital communications as key drivers for building customer loyalty and preference for CPG brands.”

Jerry Lohse [pictured, rightmost], senior director, Accenture Interactive said, “Marketers who create compelling CPG brand website experiences for consumers are extremely effective in driving incremental and profitable in-store sales.”  More...

In US, Bazaarvoice and Buddy Media Partner to Link Customer Engagement Across the Web

Integrated Social Application Enables Brands to Boost Customer Engagement and Forge Deeper Relationships By Bringing Customer Conversations About Products and Services Into Social Media Campaigns

NEW YORK and AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 31, 2012 – Bazaarvoice, a market leader in bringing the voice of the customer to the center of business strategy for more than 700 global clients, and Buddy Media, the social enterprise software of choice for eight of the world’s top ten global advertisers, today announced a partnership to help brands integrate online customer conversations in their social media campaigns. Westin Hotels & Resorts is the first to use the joint offering on facebook.com/westin, which will be showcased at the upcoming Social Media Week on Feb. 13-17, 2012.

“For six years, Bazaarvoice has been helping brands bring the voices of their customers into the heart of their business,” said Mike Svatek [pictured, left], Chief Strategy officer at Bazaarvoice. “Our solution enables our clients to create authentic conversations with their consumers, scale the reach of those conversations throughout the purchase path, and uncover and act on valuable insights. As brands strive to make the most of social networks, we’re enthusiastic to partner with Buddy Media to generate greater product awareness on social networks, deeper engagement with fans and followers, and increased conversions from social media.”

“The Buddy Media social marketing suite is built specifically for brands to power connections with their customers and fans. In this case, the capabilities of Buddy Media and Bazaarvoice aligned perfectly to build a unique product,” said Michael Lazerow [pictured, right], CEO of Buddy Media. “This solution helps brands like Westin build their business and provide a better experience for their online communities. Creating the ability for people to communicate with each other at scale is what social media is all about.”  More...

In US, NM Incite Teams with uberVU to Debut Enhanced Enterprise Social Media Management Platform

Social media technology company powers BuzzMetrics Exchange and delivers new features for NM Incite clients  

NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Jan. 26, 2012 — NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey Company, announced today the introduction of its latest version of BuzzMetrics Exchange, the company’s enterprise social media management platform powered by uberVU. This new version of the popular platform features language detection support for over 50 languages, enhanced collaboration and workflow and citylevel geolocation capabilities.

“Social media spans demographics and geography for a simple reason: it connects people, ideas and brands easily and universally,” said Amit Seth [pictured], Executive Vice President, Global Media Products for NM Incite. “We were determined to maintain incredible ease-of-use with NM Incite’s client platform and found uberVU’s team and technology to be world-class in delivering a compelling, real-time approach to social media management that appeals to our enterprise customers.” More…

In US, Tremor Video Purchases InPlay Publisher Analytics From TubeMogul

Deal Gives Tremor Video Robust, Enhanced Reporting on Publisher-side Video Performance while TubeMogul Retains its Promise of Complete Transparency and Detailed Reporting to Advertisers

NEW YORK,January 20, 2012–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tremor Video, the largest independent online video advertising technology company, and TubeMogul, the fastest-growing media buying platform for video advertising, announced today that Tremor Video has purchased InPlay, TubeMogul’s industry-leading video analytics for publishers. Tremor Video will integrate InPlay directly into VideoHub, its enterprise video platform, enabling a complete end-to-end video analytics solution for publishers.

“Publishers are demanding an analytics suite that provides a clear picture of how viewers are interacting with content in order to determine what creates the most value for advertisers,” said Bill Day [pictured, left], CEO of Tremor Video. “InPlay gives us industry-leading technology and a sound product that meets this market demand. By integrating with our existing VideoHub technology, Tremor Video can now offer our partners a view across the entire video landscape.”

“TubeMogul InPlay was built to help publishers better understand their viewers to drive deeper engagement, and it has largely delivered on that promise,” said Brett Wilson [pictured, right], Co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul. “As we shift our focus from publishers to brand advertisers, this deal helps us align our capabilities with the needs of marketers, while ensuring they get the transparency and reporting they have come to expect.”  More...

Experian Simmons Announces New Cross-Platform Media Planning Service

Pioneering Digital-Media Panel to Link Mobile and Online Activities to Thousands of Consumer Brand Preferences, Attitudes and Behaviors

New York, N.Y., Jan. 18, 2012 — Experian® SimmonsSM, part of Experian Marketing Services, announced today the development of Simmons ConnectSM, a new cross-platform media planning service that includes the industry’s first digital-media panel that links metered online and mobile activities to thousands of consumer brand preferences, attitudes, lifestyles and behaviors. Simmons Connect will provide marketers with the insights they need in an increasingly fragmented media environment to plan marketing efforts across traditional and emerging digital platforms, including mobile, using a consistent consumer definition.

“Creating meaningful connections with consumers in this increasingly fragmented media environment requires marketers to fully understand their target customers’ shifting habits and engagement with new digital and mobile devices,” said Matt Seeley [pictured], group president of Experian Marketing Services. “Simmons Connect helps simplify the complexity of cross-platform marketing and provides our clients with a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to customer acquisition and engagement.”  More...