Rakuten’s Investment in MediaForge Pays off with Triple Digit Growth and International Expansion

Strong Client Results and New Products Mark One Year Acquisition Anniversary

SALT LAKE CITY--()--On the one-year anniversary of its acquisition by Rakuten LinkShare, MediaForge announced triple-digit growth, strong client results, and several new retargeting and display technology products. MediaForge also launched in four international markets, establishing itself as one of the few retargeting/display companies operating on a global scale.

The new offices are based in Brazil, Japan, the U.K. and Australia, with additional expansion planned for the near future.

There was also significant growth in the company’s client roster with new advertisers including Anthropologie in the UK, ValueBasket in Australia, and The Body Shop, L’OCCITANE and JanSport in the US. The company also increased staffing by 53 percent over the past 12 months.

New Technology Drives Engagement On Social and Mobile Platforms

Building on its expansive year-over-year growth, Rakuten MediaForge has also developed several new retargeting and display technology products. The new products enable online advertisers to increase consumer engagement, gain greater visibility into campaign performance, and ensure maximum return from investments in digital marketing.

The new products being announced today span four critical areas. The first is the ability to retarget and prospect on Facebook with access to newsfeed and right-rail ad inventory. The second is CRM advertising, empowering more personalized online shopping experiences for offline and online customers. The third is a tool to show how online campaigns influence offline purchases – online-to-offline (O2O) attribution. The fourth is a mobile and multi-screen marketing technology, which enables advertisers to create and track engaging campaigns on both the Android and iOS platforms.

“Working with Rakuten MediaForge, we’ve seen that consumer engagement is one of the most efficient models to influence hard-to-convert shoppers and to understand campaign performance,” said Michelle Jimenez, senior manager, Acquisition Marketing, Gilt City, a member of Gilt Groupe. “We look forward to understanding how these new products can help us extend the success of our campaigns to include additional channels with the assurance that our efforts will deliver maximum return on ad spend.”

Further, as advertisers aim to drive additional revenue through international retargeting campaigns, Rakuten MediaForge’s global presence enables them to effectively reach a wider, target audience and boost ROAS through measurable online engagement.

“We’re proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved this year through the support of Rakuten and our integration with sister company, LinkShare,” said Tony Zito, chief executive officer, Rakuten MediaForge. “Our growth and our rapid international expansion is an affirmation that our mission to advocate for our clients’ success, and to champion the Consumer Engagement metric, is a winning strategy worldwide.”

About Rakuten MediaForge
Rakuten MediaForge is the only engagement-based display company. Its innovative ad technology provides proof that ads influence consumer behavior and generate greater Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). In its dedication to be a strategic partner and an advocate for client success, Rakuten MediaForge optimizes campaigns for the metric that is the most significant driver of purchase – consumer engagement. Its product suite includes solutions for prospecting, retargeting, loyalty nurturing, and reengaging lapsed-users. For more information, visit MediaForge.com.

About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer- and business-focused services including e-commerce, e-reading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal and media, online marketing, logistics and professional sports. Selected by Forbes as 7th among the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2012, Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit http://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

Contacts

Rakuten Marketing
Lisa Tadje, 801-993-2205
lisa.tadje@mediaforge.com
or
Blanc & Otus
Kathy Keating, 617-460-2702
kkeating@blancandotus.com

Release Summary

Rakuten MediaForge's one year acquisition anniversary recognizes triple digit growth, global expansion, new customers and announces new products for social, mobile, O2O, and CRM retargeting.

Contacts

Rakuten Marketing
Lisa Tadje, 801-993-2205
lisa.tadje@mediaforge.com
or
Blanc & Otus
Kathy Keating, 617-460-2702
kkeating@blancandotus.com