Guest Post by: Simon Phillips
Whilst some big retailers are still sitting on the sidelines considering whether social media has a role in their business, one of our biggest retailers has acquired its own social media company.
Yesterday it was announced that Tesco has bought US word-of-mouth social media company BzzAgent for a reported $60 million.
Bzzagent, a Boston based start up, uses volunteers to sample FMCG products and then encourages them to describe these products through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The company has 800,000 volunteers, working across brands like Unilever and L’Oreal, who spend their time describing their product experience online.
By purchasing BzzAgent, Tesco clearly want to better connect social media with product marketing. With access to some on the most comprehensive consumer data collected from their loyalty card holders, the extra content and data gathered from Bzzagent can only serve to enrich this further.
Tesco clearly recognise the significance of social media in influencing buyer behaviour. None of the other major retailers has gone this far in using social media – most seem to be focusing their efforts on communities that already hold great influence, like Mumsnet, NetMums and the hugely popular Money Saving Expert.
Tesco’s move to buy BzzAgent is another example of how social media is becoming a mainstream staple in the retailer marketing mix and the opportunity it represents can no longer be ignored.
Original Post: http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2011/05/why-retailer-tesco-bought-a-social-media-company/
