Brand Networks is in the business of helping brands with their
Facebook presence; it builds apps, facilitates publishing (which it
now does for Twitter and Tumblr as well), provides analytics, and
enables ad buying through Facebook's API. Brand Networks is a
Facebook "strategic preferred marketing developer," a
designation it's currently applied to 13 companies that are
"driving outstanding positive impact in our marketing developer
ecosystem."
Clients include major marketers like American Express,
Macy's, Starbucks and Hotels.com, and one of its focuses is on
helping national retailers with their local Facebook strategy,
according to CEO Jamie Tedford.
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Mr. Tedford, a former ad executive who worked at Arnold
Worldwide prior to starting the company, said that it's been
profitable from the start (in part because there was no other
choice, since it was bootstrapped). The point of raising money now
is to deepen its investment in technology, to hire more employees
in sales and marketing, and to expand overseas. (It currently has
offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and Rochester,
where its engineering is headquartered.)
"We've been a really quiet company," Mr. Tedford said. "We need
more feet on the street bringing the stack to market."
While there was a flurry of M&A activity last year -- with
Salesforce, Oracle and Google buying up Buddy Media, Vitrue and
Wildfire respectively -- it's notable that there are enterprise
giants like IBM and SAP left who
haven't bought themselves a social-marketing solution.
But Mr. Tedford said that he's not positioning Brand Networks
for an acquisition, though the blockbuster deals last year improved
market conditions.
"It legitimized that there's real industry here," he said.
As part of the funding deal, AEA will also provide Brand
Networks "with additional capital going forward as needed for
strategic growth initiatives and acquisitions," according to the
press release.
