May saw the AMEC Summit promote planning and some brilliant best practice. Meanwhile, 4Sight and Observer announced mergers, and both Cision and Meltwater faced legal action from their US sales teams.
Observer takes over Recherchescout
Observer, the Vienna-based media intelligence provider, has taken over the German start-up Recherchescout for an undisclosed sum. Recherchescout is a platform that connects journalists and bloggers with PR teams and thought leaders. The two companies have been working in partnership since 2015. Observer now plans to integrate the Recherchescout offer into its services and further develop the solution.
4Sight & Anavizio join forces
4Sight Group, a marketing insights company, has teamed up with Dubai-based social media analytics consultancy Anavizio to collaborate on leveraging social media intelligence as a consumer insight tool. As part of the partnership, 4Sight Group will acquire an undiscolsed stake in Anavizio, and integrate the latter’s capabilities. The collaboration will span across 4Sight Group’s offices in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe.
AMEC Summit: Planning is fundamental
For a measurement geek like me, there is no better place to be than the AMEC Summit. Each year, my fellow measurement lovers get together to share case studies, best practice and plans for the year ahead. At this year’s AMEC Summit planning was absolutely the focus on attention with the launch of its Planning Resources. The resources guide PR professionals through the planning process using the Integrated Evaluation Framework as a guide. It’s a brilliant way to ensure that communication activity is linked back to business impact right from the very start.
Cision had “common policy” to deprive its US sales reps of pay
A New York federal judge has found against Cision as it attempted to narrow a proposed nationwide collective of sales representatives accusing the company of refusing to pay proper overtime. In an opinion and order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman said the Cision sales representatives had sufficiently alleged that they faced a common policy around the U.S. depriving them of pay. The action is part of a proposed collective class action lawsuit by a group of employees against Cision. The judge conditionally certified a collective of all Cision sales representatives in the U.S. dating back to September 2017. But the judge agreed with Cision that the notice should refer only to workers with 17 specific job titles related to the sales representative work, and not also to workers in “other similar roles”.
Meltwater settles employee class action & reports earnings
iSentia’s market cap drops to a new low
In Australia, iSentia’s market capitalisation has slipped to approximately $AUD 13.34 million (~$US10.3 million), with a share price of $AUD 0.068 to $AUD 0.070. It’s in stark contrast to its former value of close to $AUD 1 billion back in December 2015, with a share price of $AUD 5.00. The company’s most recent earnings report, covering the six months to the end of December 2020, showed earnings of $AUD 41.8 million.
Press Monitor and disinformation
Sometimes, when I’m reading about our industry, I come across stories that just make me think “huh”. This month I have one to share with you. Press Monitor, a media monitoring company based in Canada, has undertaken some work for the Indian government. So far, so normal. However, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFR Lab) have reported that Press Monitor created a website, India vs Disinformation, presenting itself as an Indian media outlet and fact-checking site. It also registered and published a parallel pro-government site, India News Network, which is the primary content provider for India vs. Disinformation. (Both sites report news from each other in a bit of an editorial loop.) Articles from the website were then amplified by verified social media accounts of dozens of Indian embassies and consulates on Twitter and Facebook. Press Monitor told the DFR Lab that it created the websites as a means of gaining the favour of and receiving further commercial contracts from the Indian government. Huh.
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