VISIBLE ACQUIRES CYMFONY
Visible Technologies today agreed to acquire WPP-owned Cymfony, combining the social media analytics, monitorign and consulting companies.
WPP owned 24% of Visible and now has 49% of outstanding shares of the combined entity.
Former Cymfony chief Richard Pasewark takes the reins as CEO of Visible, based in Seattle with operations in several U.S. cities and London.
Customers of each company will continue to receive support for their respective products.
PRN ADDS GETTY STOCK IMAGES
PR Newswire and Getty Images have partnered to give PRN customers access to Getty’s extensive database of stock imagery for use in press releases.
Dan Hennes, VP for multimedia distribution at PRN said photography can be cost-prohibitive for some clients, even though multimedia often increases the pick-up of releases. “We want them to get the most out of their communication campaigns, but also understand that many marketing and professionals don't have the budget or the time to hire a photographer for every occasion and announcement,” he said.
PRN has incorporated images from Getty’s Thinkstock and iStockphoto services into its online member center, allowing users to add photos with a single click.
Getty also said this week it has inked a deal with travel publisher Lonely Planet to become the sole global distributor for LP’s library of 420,000 travel images built over 14 years. It has also signed to distribute photos for French news magazine Paris Match.
CRITICAL MENTION EYES HISPANIC MARKET
Monitoring company Critical Mention said it has doubled the number of Spanish- language TV stations tracked, expanding to the top 50 U.S. Hispanic markets.
CM president Dave Armon said the TV consumption among Hispanics is “sharply higher” than the general population and its audiences are growing. He sees a strong demand from Hispanic marketing pros to monitor earned, paid and “owned” media.
The U.S. Hispanic population has surpassed 50 million people, growing 43%, according to the latest Census. CM notes that three-quarters of U.S. Hispanics live in nine states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas – down from 81% in 2000 as the population spreads out among the U.S.
Critical Mention addressed the newly expanded Hispanic media footprint by doubling the number of Spanish outlets it monitors in all those markets as well as regions with growing Hispanic populations like Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Portland and Raleigh-Durham.