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September 03, 2014,
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Social media platform Sprinklr Inc . is expanding in preparation for a potential IPO next year, snapping up its third company in the last six months to nearly double headcount to 550 in that time. The enterprise software company said Wednesday it has acquired social-media tools maker Branderati Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The news comes just a few weeks after Sprinklr announced it had acquired TBG Digital Ltd. and six months after acquiring Dachis Digital Inc., also for undisclosed sums.... Document DJFVW00120140903ea93aq5cc
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Sprinklr Acquires Branderati, Looks to Hit ’Critical Mass’

Most Powerful Technology in the Market Makes Third Acquisition in Six Months, Becomes World's Largest, Independent Enterprise Social Media Solution
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 3, 2014) - Sprinklr, the leading independent end-to-end social relationship infrastructure, today announces the acquisition of BRANDERATI, the industry's foremost platform for advocacy and influencer marketing. The addition of BRANDERATI fuels Sprinklr's aggressive growth and creates the only fully integrated, enterprise-grade paid, owned and earned media (POEM) solution, an essential ingredient for marketers looking to optimize spend and maximize ROI. "Integrating customer advocacy into the core social technology will be essential for every brand that is focused on growing reach in an increasingly fragmented marketplace. And that's every brand," said Kellie Parker, Senior Community Manager at SEGA. "With over 65 accounts around the globe and properties like Sonic the Hedgehog, customer advocacy is critical for us. "
The average American consumer mentions brands 60 times per week in both on - and offline conversations1. BRANDERATI helps brands tap into this powerful word-of-mouth by giving them a way to exclusively reach their most influential and engaged audience members. By identifying these passionate fan groups from brands' existing social communities and providing scalable activation programs, BRANDERATI goes beyond traditional social listening and influencer marketing platforms to strengthen the quality of customer engagement and drive true return on investment. "While many brands are experiencing less than 10 percent reach across their social platforms, with direct access to their advocate influencers, our clients have experienced as high as 68.5 percent social sharing engagement," added Mark Curtis, founder and CEO of BRANDERATI. "By integrating BRANDERATI's technology into the Sprinklr social relationship platform, we're making advocacy a core part of the social stack and giving brands the power to organically recruit brand ambassadors and create scalable influencer programs. "
Called "the most powerful technology on the market" last year by Forrester Research2, Sprinklr has strategically expanded their platform over the last six months to meet the increasing enterprise demand for comprehensive social relationship management. In February 2014, Sprinklr acquired Dachis Group, incorporating best-in-class brand analytics, content optimization and employee advocacy into their platform. After receiving a $40 million Series D investment from ICONIQ Capital, Intel Capital and Battery Ventures in April, Sprinklr purchased TBG Digital, a pioneer of social advertising for big brands on Facebook and Twitter. The acquisition brought over $100 million of paid media spend into Sprinklr as well as top-tier clients that include Vodafone, Heineken and Zynga. "With 92% of consumers now trusting recommendations from friends and family more than any form of advertising, advocacy now must take a more central role -- not only in marketing but in the overall business strategy," said Ragy Thomas, CEO and Founder of Sprinklr. "BRANDERATI has unlocked the key to sustained brand advocacy at scale and having their technology and know-how on board will mean big things for our clients. "
With BRANDERATI, Sprinklr now employs more than 500 employees in five countries and serves more than 650 enterprise brands worldwide, including:
Four of the top five U.S. banks
Three of the top six insurance companies
Three of the top seven hotel chains
Four of the top six retailers
Tech titans such as Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, and Dell. BRANDERATI CEO Mark Curtis will join Sprinklr as a general manager of the advocacy business unit in their New York City office. In the coming months, brands that rely on Sprinklr to optimize their social business will benefit from a more complete suite of capabilities to further their ad spends, enrich their content and increase consumer engagement to show even greater impact for their campaigns. To find out more, please visit www.sprinklr.com
About Sprinklr
Sprinklr provides the technology that enables large brands to manage customer experiences at every social touchpoint across teams, departments, divisions and geographies. Unlike tools and platforms, Sprinklr is the only fully integrated social relationship infrastructure, ensuring that the voice of the customer is heard throughout the enterprise. Called "the most powerful technology in the market" by a leading analyst, Sprinklr is headquartered in New York City and serves more than 650 brands worldwide including Microsoft, Intel, Virgin America, IHG and four of the top five U.S. banks. Visit sprinklr.com @sprinklr #SocialAtScale. About BRANDERATI
BRANDERATI is the industry leading marketing platform for advocacy and influencer relations. The company works with agencies, publishing partners, and brands to direct, reward and amplify entire networks of influential advocates. BRANDERATI's turnkey strategic services and its robust influencer marketing platform provide the foundation for a complete and sustainable program, from recruiting, through engagement, to measurement and optimization. The platform has formed the foundation of advocate influencer initiatives for more than 50 brands across different industries, from beauty and luxury to fashion and retail, to consumer packaged goods and technology. For more information please visit branderati.com. 1 WOMMA
2 Forrester Research Wave, Social Relationship Platforms
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Sprinklr Buys Top Influencer Advocacy Company, BRANDERATI

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It is safe to say Mark Curtis was on a mission to team up his company, Branderati , with Sprinklr . In fact, he practically chased down Sprinklr’s CEO, Ragy Thomas, at this year’s South by Southwest festival to talk about a collaboration between their respective New York-based companies. Today, Sprinklr announced it has acquired Branderati for undisclosed terms. The deal adds another element to Sprinklr’s social media monitoring software for businesses . The news also marks Sprinklr’s third acquisition in five months, with the company having already snatched up London’s TBG Digital and Dachis Group in Austin, TX. With this latest deal, Sprinklr will have grown from 30 to 530 employees over the last two years. When companies want to increase their reach, social media networks try to sell them on advertising opportunities, says Jeremy Epstein, vice president of marketing for Sprinklr. But companies favor getting word-of-mouth recognition among the public—also known as earned media. “It’s preferential for a large company to have their fans spread their word willingly for them instead of having to pay for it,” he says. Finding zealot fans, Epstein says, and getting information directly to them when a new promotion kicks off, can help companies maximize their marketing dollars. “Previously, you couldn’t do all that in one place,” he says. The acquisition of Branderati is part of a plan to do just that. Branderati will be completely folded into Sprinklr, Epstein says, with Curtis becoming a general manager within the combined company. Rather than bolt on Branderati’s platform, its ideas and technology will be integrated into Sprinklr’s software, he says. Curtis, the founder and CEO of Branderati, says businesses want to give extra attention to certain followers in social media based on their reach with the rest of the public. “This idea of having a segmented ability to manage audience within social came up as early as 2009, but there was nothing on the market,” he claims. So his company, founded as a social media agency, eventually developed software to provide such a service and then pivoted in 2013 to focus on what he calls advocacy marketing software. Branderati’s system is one of many that help businesses identify prominent people who talk up brands in social media. “The brands needed a way to connect with them and direct that word-of-mouth in line with their promotions,” he says. These so-called influencers can generate hype for brands, Curtis says, but in the early days of social media few businesses knew how to leverage that pull with the public. He says this led to the rise of venture-backed companies such as New York’s Crowdtap, which developed a social-influence marketing platform. Curtis says though the sector has seen growth, it is harder than it seems to recruit social media advocates, consistently and at scale, for brands. “You can’t build a group of advocates, use them, and then just lose them,” he says. Instead, working with influencers and advocates should be an organic part of a company’s social media marketing strategy, Curtis says. Prior to Branderati, Curtis founded New York marketing services company enter:marketing  in 2003. With his resources and contacts from his first agency, he self-funded Branderati. When SXSW came around, he sought out Sprinklr’s Thomas to talk about using social media advocacy when businesses promote themselves to the public. That was when Curtis learned Sprinklr wanted to take social media beyond marketing and make it part of other business functions such as human resources. Thomas’s idea, Curtis says, sounded like a way to accelerate Branderati’s ambitions and make it part of a far-reaching plan. So rather than trying to grow independently, he chose to sell to Sprinklr. Coming from one company, Curtis says, the software can help businesses simplify the launch of large-scale promotions to social media, with prominent influencers at the forefront of such marketing efforts. “I thought it was going to take another two years to prove out my tech and get big enough so that somebody at the core infrastructure level would buy us,” Curtis says. João-Pierre S. Ruth is the editor of Xconomy New York. He can be reached at jpruth@xconomy.com and followed on Twitter @jpruth. Follow @jpruth
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Sprinklr’s Social Marketing Rollup Now Includes Branderati

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Facebook PMD Sprinklr Scoops Up Branderati
David Cohen on September 3, 2014 11:18 AM
Social relationship infrastructure provider Sprinklr , a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer , has acquired influencer advocacy company Branderati , and Branderati CEO Mark Curtis  will join Sprinklr ’s New York office as a general manager of its advocacy business unit. The companies said in a release announcing the acquisition that the combination will provide clients with a fully integrated, enterprise-grade paid, owned and earned media  solution, adding that the merged entity now has more than 500 employees in five countries and serves more than 650 enterprise brands worldwide, including:
Four of the top five U.S. banks. Three of the top six insurance companies. Three of the top seven hotel  chains. Four of the top six retailers . Tech giants including Microsoft , Intel , Cisco Systems  and Dell . Curtis said in the release:
While many brands are experiencing less than 10 percent reach  across their social platforms, with direct access to their advocate influencers, our clients have experienced as high as 68.5 percent social sharing engagement. By integrating Branderati’s technology into the Sprinklr social relationship platform, we’re making advocacy a core part of the social stack and giving brands the power to organically recruit brand ambassadors and create scalable influencer programs. Sprinklr founder and CEO Ragy Thomas  added:
With 92 percent of consumers now trusting recommendations  from friends and family more than any form of advertising, advocacy now must take a more central role — not only in marketing but in the overall business strategy. Branderati has unlocked the key to sustained brand advocacy at scale, and having its technology and know-how on board will mean big things for our clients. Related Stories

Facebook PMD Sprinklr Scoops Up Branderati

Today, we are very excited to announce that Branderati, the leading influencer advocate solution, has been acquired by Sprinklr. It's a big day for the industry as advocacy now becomes a critical part of the enterprise social infrastructure. For Sprinklr, it's another milestone on our journey to creating the most complete social software platform for large brands. We’re witnessing an immense change in consumer behavior, in both B2B and B2C environments. Today, over 60% of consumers are decided on what to buy before they ever step into a store or contact a brand. Over 70% of consumers trust others like them more than brands themselves when it comes to product information. Advocacy is an essential part of every marketer’s activities going forward. However, instead of my telling you why this makes sense for Sprinklr and the brands we serve, I am going to let Mark Curtis, the CEO and Founder of Branderati and our newest General Manager, tell the story. He understands the importance of advocacy as well as anyone. Mark...take it away and welcome to Sprinklr. -Ragy Thomas, CEO and Founder, Sprinklr
 Branderati Is Joining The Sprinklr Family
By Mark Curtis, CEO of Branderati
As we have been preparing for the announcement, I’ve been asked many questions by colleagues, journalists, and friends. “How did your relationship with Sprinklr begin?”… “Why did you decide to join forces?” … “What does this acquisition mean for brands?”
To answer these questions one must tell two stories. One is a story of a marketing discipline coming of age. The second is a story of two organizations that share a vision of how social will revolutionize business as we know it. Advocacy Marketing’s Coming of Age
When we built the very first version of the Branderati platform in early 2010, we didn’t know we were tapping into a large industry need. We knew we needed to respond to a clear client need to screen advocacy candidates and create a members-only space we could use to activate and measure a highly-curated network of ambassadors. At the time there were no other existing options in the marketplace. So we built it ourselves. We quickly got results. The publishers we were working with started driving millions of dollars of annual revenue from the bespoke communities our technology enabled. As we expanded into new verticals our clients started realizing we were driving social sharing at a scale that outpaced many of their broader Facebook and/or Twitter communities. They also realized the cost of this authentic social sharing ran between 1/7th to 1/25th of the cost of incremental social sharing driven through their media campaigns. And we weren’t alone. Several other companies received funding and provided their own paths to customer advocacy and/or employee advocacy. As a group, we were delivering results and fighting to be viewed not just as an isolated point solution to be engaged on an a la carte basis. But rather, we have been pushing for advocacy marketing to be viewed strategically. As an “always-on” function of an overall social/digital strategy that should be built organically and leveraged in connection with each major priority throughout the promotional calendar. Today is a bit of a watershed moment for advocacy marketing. We believe the collective efforts of Branderati and our fellow advocacy marketers have caused a tipping point. We have fundamentally proven that one of the greatest by-products of scaled social media communities is the ability to connect with, nurture and identify brand advocates. We have proven that by taking our relationship with these advocates to the next level, they return the favor many, many times over in terms of authentic and directed word of mouth. We have proven to enough CMO’s around the world that advocacy now must be viewed as a critical component of the social ecosystem. And the major players that hold the charter to provide end-to-end social infrastructure must respond by providing best-in-class advocacy technology and workflow as a seamless extension of the holistic social stack. Leave it to Sprinklr, the most nimble and fastest growing player in this space to be the first to bring advocacy into core infrastructure. Can the others be far behind? I doubt it. But I do know we will have a pretty great head start on them. Two Companies, Shared Vision
Our CMO, Ekaterina Walter, and I had a very important discussion in 2013 and then again early in 2014. We knew that our goal from the start was to be eventually bought out by one of the major infrastructure players in the space. However, we also knew that our clients and prospects were looking NOW for a more streamlined solution to recruiting, engaging and measuring their advocates as a part of their overall social efforts. We wanted to build a partnership with one of the key players. If we were lucky, it would be more than a marketing partnership. We would want to explore actually embedding parts of our technology into the core client experience. But who would we approach first? SXSW was coming up and this would be an excellent time for us to make the initial overtures. Our discussion ranged across the usual suspects, but time and time again Ekaterina and I came back to Sprinklr. At the end of the day, if we thought we were the best, we wanted to partner with the best. When we had the chance to present our full vision for integrating advocacy into the core social management experience, we knew that the one person who would share our passion was Sprinklr’s CEO and founder, Ragy Thomas. As we weren’t wrong, the connection was made within minutes. Rather than having to “sell” Ragy on our vision, he was completing our sentences. In fact he didn’t think we were thinking big enough. For Ragy, social media isn’t about a change in the way we market. It’s about changing the way we do business. He told us that if advocacy was so important for sales and marketing, how could it not be important to other functions like HR? Why shouldn’t recruiters have their own advocates that are helping position the brand among key talent pools? Etc. We quickly realized that we had found the partner we were looking for. In the ensuing months, we were announced as an official partner, began integrating Sprinklr listening into our core product and built plans for a full scale integration. Today is simply the next step in this relationship that is founded on a shared vision. We are excited about today’s announcement. But we are even more excited about what we are going to be able to accomplish as key part of the Sprinklr family. We can’t wait to start bringing you the new capabilities that will ignite brand love, help you build passionate tribes, and drive true business impact. Read more:


Branderati Is Joining The Sprinklr Family

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Branderati walks the journey of advocate influencer marketing together with brands by helping recognize, recruit, and engage the most valuable fans and, by doing so, unlock a new level of social media ROI and word of mouth. The company's turnkey strategic and creative services, as well as unique software platform, help convert "like" to love and love to loyalty, as well as analyze and optimize the effectiveness of the engagement in real time.

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