Blog: Tesco's Dunnhumby acquires social marketing firm

Petah Marian | 25 May 2011

Tesco's majority-owned consumer data firm Dunnhumby has emphasised its interest in social media marketing with the acquisition of US-based BzzAgent.

BzzAgent is a Boston-based social marketing company that "accelerates word of mouth to drive sales".

The firm said that it is "powered by a network of over 800,000 agents" and, in the customary jargon, claimed it "creates measurable business results for marketers through an influential advocate network, a powerful engagement platform and a proven analytics approach".

Dunnhumby said yesterday (24 May) that the acquisition is a "marriage of one of the leaders in shopper marketing with a social marketing pioneer".

"Not only does BzzAgent leverage a base of 800,000 influential customers in the word-of-mouth space, it is focused on measuring return on investment and the role of social media. Our focus has always been on building loyalty. With BzzAgent, we believe we can now help our clients understand advocacy and use this knowledge to earn more loyal customers for retailers and brands," said Dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay.