Mindshare Technologies Acquires Empathica

• Acquisition Makes Mindshare the Largest Provider of Voice of Customer (VoC) Feedback Solutions in Food Services and Retail Industries; Combined Entity will have Collected More than 300 Million Surveys by the End of 2013
• Acquisition Significantly Bolsters Mindshare’s International Presence, Collecting Surveys from Consumers in more than 125 Countries and in 32 Different Languages
  World’s Leading Brands Will Now Have Access to the Most Comprehensive Solution Set on the Market

SALT LAKE CITY and TORONTO (September 19, 2013) – Mindshare Technologies, a leader in Voice of the Customer (VoC) technologies, has acquired Empathica, the leading global provider of social Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions. The acquisition establishes Mindshare as the largest VoC provider in the food services and retail industries, and will continue to aggressively grow in contact centers, hospitality and many other areas.

The acquisition was financed in part by Sorenson Capital and Peterson Partners. Cascadia Capital served as Empathica’s financial advisor in the transaction.

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.

“In the age of the empowered customer, the ability to get strong, actionable feedback from each customer is becoming of paramount value to companies that want to drive business transformation and brand advocacy,” said John Sperry, CEO of Mindshare. “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.”

Along with its key personnel with industry expertise, Empathica’s deep experience in consumer insights and benchmarking will enhance Mindshare’s approach to focus on the Sample Size of One™, ensuring every individual’s feedback is valued and acted upon. Empathica’s marketing sciences capabilities will also strengthen Mindshare’s client services team by providing rich insight into emerging trends in customer service. In addition, the acquisition will augment Mindshare’s real-time feedback solutions and improve its ability to deliver actionable customer insights to all levels of management personnel, from front-line managers to executive teams.

The acquisition marries two companies with comparable visions and similar client bases. The combined organization will have a dominant market position globally, collecting VOC surveys in 125 countries and 32 languages, serving the world’s leading brands with a focus in Europe and North America.

“We are excited to join Mindshare and become the dominant player in the industry as a combined entity,” said Mike Amos, founder and CEO of Empathica. “By gaining access to the deepest and widest range of insights in the market, we can empower companies to fully leverage their most valuable asset: their customers.”

With the combined product innovation and development capabilities of both companies, Mindshare will seek to aggressively produce solutions that improve the customer experience industry and drive measurable increases in customer loyalty, retention and brand advocacy for companies.

“The feedback from the market is clear. Leading companies want a VoC provider that can respond to the most demanding aspects of their global business. With the acquisition of Empathica, Mindshare will stand alone, providing the technology, service and global footprint required to serve the world’s largest and most valuable brands,” concluded Sperry.