BELTSVILLE, Md., Sept. 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Vocus, Inc. ("Vocus") and Cision , leading global providers of cloud-based public relations (PR) software being brought together by private equity firm GTCR, today announced the acquisition of Visible Technologies ("Visible"). Visible is a worldwide market leader in social media listening and analytics, insights and engagement. Coupling the company's social intelligence SaaS platform and insights experts with Vocus and Cision's powerful PR tools creates a comprehensive solution for tracking and analyzing earned, owned and paid media that elevates brands and drives business results.
Visible has a deep base of customer relationships with Fortune 1000 companies and agencies around the globe that leverage Visible's advanced social media insights to design and measure comprehensive marketing and communication strategies. Forrester Research, Inc. has named Visible as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Listening Platforms, Q1 2014 report, citing it among vendors with "advanced data processing capabilities, user-friendly dashboards and strong integration and partnership plans."
"Social media is by far the fastest-growing segment of the $2.2 billion global market for public relations software," said Chris Porter, associate analyst at Burton-Taylor International Consulting LLC. "Visible has long featured as one of the leading players in this area, and it makes excellent sense for Vocus and Cision to be investing here."
The Visible Intelligence (VI) enterprise social media intelligence platform provides three core capabilities: social media monitoring, enriched data analytics and insights, and customer engagement. Among its significant industry differentiators, the software provides multiple configurable dashboards and unlimited, fine-grain segmentation, on-demand search and analytics that help marketing and PR professionals track brand buzz, competitors, industry issues, market events, consumer sentiment and trending topics in real-time across the wide breadth of global social networks.
What makes Visible truly unique is the expert analysis and insights provided by its Insights Services team coupled with the VI technology. This research and consulting arm of the company works to derive context and meaning from social data to help customers make informed business decisions. The combination of Visible's technology, capabilities and people will add a premium layer of high touch, high interaction client service and insights to the powerful product suite and services delivered through the combined company of Cision and Vocus.
"We're building the ultimate PR tool, and Visible Technologies is a key element," said Vocus Chief Executive Officer Peter Granat. "Using PR to drive strategic business value requires an ability to uncover and leverage meaningful brand insights. Adding the Visible team and technology allows us to more effectively measure social impact and turn those insights into action. As this acquisition shows, we are committed to continued investment in and enhancing our platform, content tools and analysts to move the PR and marketing communication industry forward."
Recently Blue Canyon Holdings, an affiliate of leading private equity firm GTCR, announced its intent to form a premier global public relations cloud company by bringing together industry leaders Cision and Vocus.
About Vocus
Vocus is a leading provider of public relations software that enables professionals to plan, execute and measure influencer-oriented campaigns in one integrated platform. Communications professionals from over 120,000 corporations, agencies and nonprofits use Vocus to access the world's largest pitchable media and blogger database, distribute press releases, manage influencer outreach, measure social media activities, and analyze the effectiveness of communications campaigns. Vocus is the parent company to PRWeb , Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact . It is headquartered in Beltsville, Maryland with offices in North America and Europe. For more information, visit http://www.vocus.com , call (800) 345-5572, or follow on Twitter @Vocus.
About Cision
Cision is a leading provider of cloud-based PR software, services and tools for the marketing and public relations industry. Marketing and PR professionals use our products to help manage all aspects of their brands – from identifying key media and influencers to connecting with audiences; monitoring traditional and social media; and analyzing outcomes. Journalists, bloggers, and other influencers use Cision's tools to research story ideas, track trends, and maintain their public profiles. Cision is present in Europe, North America and Asia, with revenue of approx. SEK 1.0 billion in 2012.
About Visible Technologies
Visible Technologies® is an industry leader in advanced social intelligence and engagement for innovative enterprises and agencies around the globe. Since its inception in 2005, Visible's patented platform – Visible Intelligence® – and Insights Services methodology have enabled marketing professionals and business leaders at Fortune 1000 companies to transform their social media programs. The combination of leading technology and services provides real-time consumer insights that impact business decisions and drive tangible results and ROI.
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Vocus Breeanna Straessle +1 301.479.3921
