ST. LOUIS – GroupM Next, the forward-looking innovation unit of GroupM, has signed a licensing agreement with visual social media marketing startup Curalate to provide clients of GroupM media agencies (Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare) with engagement analytics on the social platform Pinterest.
The relationship provides an open door to what the company has identified as the top image and Pinterest analytics tools in the market today. GroupM Next will absorb the licensing fees, making the social analytics tool available to clients for a defined period with no pass through costs.
A core focus of GroupM Next is to identify emerging companies worthy of evaluation by GroupM agencies for client benefit. GroupM Next identified Curalate for its distinct specialist approach to ‘image’ analytics. Through data from Curalate, clients with pinboards on Pinterest will benefit from deeper, actionable insights into their visibility and engagement on the social network, including: image recognition of images related to a brand, brand advocate identification, trend identification, competitive analysis, and understanding of traffic sources. The combination of the product, where product development is going and competitive pricing put Curalate at the forefront of the category for GroupM Next when evaluating startups.
“The value of a platform is only as good as a brand’s ability to measure it. Visual curation is an important area of social media and we want to remove any barriers for brands, including financial ones, so that they have the data they need, can allocate resources and be able to do things beyond what they are able to do today,” said GroupM Next Chief Innovation Officer Cary Tilds. “Innovation through a test-learn-scale approach is useful for most emerging companies. However, we recognize there are times we need to go beyond. A benefit our agencies can provide to clients is a faster way to understand new, emerging, visually-based social ecosystems that are engaging consumers in new ways. This partnership with Curalate delivers that.”
A differentiation of Pinterest compared to other social networks is that it allows people to indicate and socialize via the Web visuals of what matters most to them. This curation allows brands to discover trends, track and measure activity, and to take action.
“As social media conversations become increasingly visual and product oriented, brands have more and more opportunities to identify the value of relationships and form more meaningful relationships with consumers,” said Apu Gupta, Curalate co-founder and CEO. “This partnership with GroupM Next is the first of its nature for Curalate, and will accelerate the pace at which forward-looking brands embrace and profit from this evolution in social media.”
“Throughout the ages, people have told stories and have identified what’s important to them using images. Visual curation at this scale and ease is new and powerful,” Tilds stated. “Our licensing agreement allows a large scale of brands to learn quicker than any other group of companies, speeding innovation, and therefore, future application of the learnings.”
About GroupM Next
GroupM Next is the forward-looking, innovation unit of GroupM, the world’s largest global media investment management group that serves as the parent company to WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare, as well as Catalyst Online and Xaxis. Together with GroupM agencies, GroupM Next focuses on the curation and application of insight-focused solutions across the online, social, mobile and addressable channels. Through thought, technology, research and education, GroupM Next delivers data-driven, actionable insights and a clear path to action so that GroupM agencies and their clients harness the right opportunities made possible in the digital technology and new media industry environments with speed and relevance. Access our work and discover our perspective at www.groupmnext.com.
About Curalate
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Curalate is leading the pack in developing a new breed of marketing tools for the emerging sector of socially curated sites, starting with Pinterest. Curalate offers the most comprehensive solution available for brands and agencies looking to measure, monitor, and grow brand engagement on today’s socially curated sites. Curalate is backed by top tier venture capitalists including NEA and First Round Capital, and is in use by over 500 notable brands and agencies. For more information please visit www.curalate.com.
