Mindshare Technologies, a leader in Voice of the Customer technologies, has acquired Empathica – a leading global provider of social Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions. The acquisition – which was announced on Thursday -- establishes Mindshare as the largest VoC provider in the food services and retail industries.
Empathica’s social CEM and social media technology will be incorporated with Mindshare’s industry-leading VoC platform and extensive text analytics solutions, positioning Mindshare to consolidate and lead the VoC market. With Empathica, Mindshare will serve more than 200,000 locations and business units worldwide. Since inception, the companies will have collected more than 300 million customer reviews combined by the end of 2013. Mindshare will also significantly expand its national and international footprint through Empathica’s strong presence in both North America and Europe.
Mike Amos, founder and CEO of Empathica, told Loyalty 360 that the acquisition won’t cause any disruption to surveys or reporting.
“The goal is to move to one platform over time to allow for a more efficient and robust combined offering,” Amos explained. “This will allow customers to get the best features of both platforms in one consistent location. As features become available, enhanced functionality and performance of the platform will be evident. Mindshare and Empathica will fully communicate with customers on any transition that will directly impact VoC/EFM (Enterprise Feedback Management) programs.”
Amos said that today’s leading companies know that listening to their customers and acting on their feedback is a significant competitive advantage. With the acquisition of Empathica and the blending of the companies’ technology and consulting expertise, Mindshare Technologies will bring to the world’s leading multi-unit brands:
Comprehensive Solution Set: Leveraging the best of both company’s offerings to provide a comprehensive approach to the Voice of Customer (VoC)/CEM industry.
Industry-Leading Scale: Increasing leadership position by establishing Mindshare as the largest player in the retail, food services and contact center industries collecting approximately 300 million customer reviews in 2013 from more than 200,000 global locations.
Global Reach: Expanding our global presence and accelerating entry into new markets to include collecting surveys from consumers in more than 125 countries and 28 languages.
“This acquisition marries two companies with comparable visions, similar customer bases, and a shared commitment to providing exceptional customer service,” Amos said. “It is more than just a combination of products. It is the combination of our people, technology, and approach. We are excited and confident that this will accelerate Mindshare’s vision and commitment to provide leading edge VoC solutions to the market through the introduction of new product and services.”
In a press release, Mindshare CEO John Sperry said the addition of Empathica is “incredibly valuable in helping us make the voice of the customer that much more valuable in decision making among consumer-facing companies. This acquisition gives Mindshare the strongest customer feedback solutions – and the largest client base in the food services and retail sectors – as we continue to grow across many industries.”