Another month, another acquisition for Meltwater. Reputation also made a purchase. In Europe, pressrelations showed us that mergers work just as well. Meanwhile, Burton-Taylor reported a 7.5% growth in spend on media intelligence products in 2020 and a market valued at $USD4.8 billion, and the AMEC Summit is almost here.
Meltwater buys Klear for $USD 17.8 million 
Following it’s IPO in the final days of 2020, Meltwater has been in acquisition mode, picking up Linkfluence in March, and now Klear, an influencer management platform, in April. Excluding earn-out, Meltwater has agreed to purchase Klear for a price of 1.4 times 2020 revenue. Klear generated revenues of $USD 7.6 million.
Reputation acquires Nuvi
Reputation has acquired Nuvi for an undisclosed sum. Reputation will add social listening to its platform and enhance its use of technology. Interestingly, Nuvi replaced Brandwatch on “day 1″ as Reputation’s social listening tool. Brandwatch’s sale to Cision is likely to result in similar announcements, and new partnerships, as media monitoring and analytics organisations review their social media partners.
pressrelations merges with NR SWISS
Germany’s pressrelations has merged with Switzerland’s NR SWISS and will operate under the umbrella brand of pressrelations. The two companies have been working in partnership for four years, servicing both the German and Swiss markets. The declared aim of the merger is to bring together the two company’s technology and consulting expertise. GianCarlo Bianchi and Katrin Frei assume the management of the newly branded pressrelations Schweiz AG, and will also join the management board of the pressrelations group in Dusseldorf. This is a victory for the caps lock key as well as German and Swiss communicators.
Tagger picks up $USD8.5 million in funding
It’s not just Meltwater that’s investing in influencer measurement, Five Elms Capital has closed a $USD8.5 million Series A investment in Tagger Media. Tagger is the influencer marketing and social listening platform that guides global brands and agencies in influencer discovery, campaign management and measurement. The company has reported more than 100% growth in 2020. The investment will be used to accelerate product development and innovation, and further expanding the company’s global footprint and team.Reports from Kantar and Burton-Taylor
I love a report that digs into the perceptions and experiences of communicators. Kantar have questioned 6,000 members of the public and 700 communicators from across Western Europe to understand news and media consumption trends. The Media Navigator report is definitely eye-opening, and worth the read. Meanwhile, Burton-Taylor have released their latest review of the media intelligence market. According to Burton-Taylor, annual spending on media intelligence solutions grew 7.5% in 2020 to more than $USD 4.8 billion. It’s impressive growth in what was a challenging year.
Social listening: when is it acceptable?
Over the past few years, there have been increasing numbers of stories about the monitoring of social media, often reported with a shocked tone. Sometimes there’s a reference of a supplier, like Dataminr, which comes with some risk to reputation. This month we had two stories. Yahoo News reported on the US Postal Service’s surveillance of social media. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been know. While the New York Times reported on Germany’s monitoring of conspiracy theorists via social media. Both expressed some dismay. The challenge for our industry is to figure out at what point does monitoring earned media become unacceptable.AMEC Summit is almost here
The countdown to the annual AMEC Summit has begun – it is due to take place on 26 and 27 May. Speakers are already being announced, and I am excited to hear about communicating in the time of COVID. I know that it’s been over a year since the first lockdown, but I still enjoy attending a conference in pyjamas. Those who attended last year will know how brilliant the digital conference hosted by Intrado can be. If you’ve not yet booked your ticket, now’s the time.
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