Reckitt Benckiser has hired Syncapse to manage the global social media presence of its 20 brands including Clearasil, Durex and Lysol. Under the deal, Syncapse will use its platform to create integrated social-marketing programs across Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
This agreement will aim to drive engagement with target audiences, while making it easier to measure return on investment.
Syncapse’s platform is a software-as-a-service-based solution that provides a secure infrastructure to build applications, distribute content, manage compliance, host social data and measure marketing performance.
Simon Moutzouris, head of global digital marketing and social media at Reckitt Benckiser, said: “The convergence of branded content, social engagement and paid media demands tighter integration in planning, execution and measurement across all of our digital marketing investments.”
Earlier this month, the company announced that it generated 4.67 billion pounds in revenue during the first half of 2012, up by four percent year on year.
Syncapse President and CEO Michael Scissons said companies like Reckitt Benckiser may already have a presence on Facebook and other social media, but want to improve their ROI.
To bolster its performance-marketing capability, Syncapse recently acquired search and social advertising firm Clickable for a reported $33 million. “We now have earned and owned media distribution, and the data that holds the whole thing together,” said Scissons.
The social-media marketing space has seen a flurry of larger deals lately, with Oracle acquiring Vitrue and Involver, and Salesforce.com buying Buddy Media for almost $800 million.
With a client list of over 100, including L’Oreal, Anheuser-Busch InBev, RIM, Diageo and Coca-Cola, Syncapse could prove an acquisition target itself among social-marketing platforms.
The company says its client base has increased more than 200% in the past year, but Scissons believes there’s ample room for growth. “We’re still at the early days of the enterprise market from our perspective,” he said.