BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Linkable Networks today announced $11.7 million in funding along with three key executive team hires as the company positions itself for accelerated growth in 2015. In addition to driving enhancements to its core platform, the additional working capital enables Linkable to scale its direct to consumer loyalty platform that allows retailers and CPG brands to engage the next generation of shoppers.
To support acceleration and product enhancement, Linkable is planning to double its staff over the next six months with a focus on expanding development, client support and sales. The company welcomes three senior executives to its leadership team:
- Mike DiFranza, the founder and former president and CEO of Captivate Networks, joins Linkable as its president. One of MediaWeek’s 50 Most Influential Executives in Media, Mr. DiFranza brings a wealth of knowledge in the digital advertising industry.
- John Caron joins as chief marketing officer, coming to Linkable from his role as VP of marketing at Catalina, a digital media company. With over 20 years in the media and commerce spaces, John is positioned to merchandise Linkable as the premier retailer, brand and consumer loyalty platform.
- L. Jeff Jensen joins the company as executive vice president, general manager of Omnyverse, Linkable’s new omnichannel affiliate network for specialty retailers. During his 30 year career at companies such as News America and Zadspace, Inc., Jeff has acquired a deep understanding and expertise in the digital media and retail spaces.
“We’re excited to welcome Mike, John and Jeff to the Linkable team,” says Tom Burgess, CEO of Linkable Networks. “Linkable is disrupting the analog world of consumer promotions and loyalty by connecting digital media, consumers and physical stores. We’ve created market changing solutions and we’re partnering with the largest financial institutions, retailers and brands to deliver a frictionless loyalty solution that traverses the in-store, online and mobile paths to purchase.”
According to an Inmar study, 78 percent of consumers want coupons or loyalty redemptions to be automatically applied to their purchase. Linkable’s platform directly connects retailers and brands with more than 200 million credit and debit cardholders. This focus on invisible, always-on loyalty is the foundation of the Linkable platform, and it eliminates the hassle of printing, clipping and scanning.
Directly engaging and influencing consumers has long been a dream for brands. While print-at-home, load-to-card and rebates were good stopgaps, they leave brands disconnected from consumers and provide limited market feedback and attribution on advertising efforts. These solutions were effective, but thanks to the convergence of payments and marketing, brands and retailers can finally step into the digital realm that shoppers demand. By leveraging the Linkable solutions, brands and retailers are now able to reward consumers for loyalty while optimizing and tracking their return on advertising spend.
“For Millennials, loyalty trumps discounts wherever they shop and, according to the Brand Loyalty Report, 60 percent of them would switch brands and 68 percent would change where they shop if it meant more benefits. Coupons and loyalty cards often get lost or left behind and currently fail to support a brand’s relationship with their consumers,” states John Caron, Linkable’s new CMO. “Additionally, traditional and print-at-home coupons elongate checkout times which costs retailers millions of dollars per year. What Linkable is doing is unique in that it creates a better experience that saves everyone time and money and utilizes something we all have in our pockets, our payment cards.”
About Linkable Networks
Linkable Networks was founded on the premise that loyalty, not discounts or coupons, drives long-term growth for brands and retailers. Loyalty is what separates consumables from brands and consumers now expect the loyalty experience to be in context of them wherever and whenever they purchase. Since 2011, we’ve been nose-down building a scalable platform that provides brands and retailers the ability to engage, reward and incent their consumers directly and across any channel – online, mobile and in-store. We pioneered the concept of card-linked-offers and have taken it to the next level – always-on loyalty. Both our self-service and SaaS-based platforms enable the creation of actionable ads, coupons, offers, promotions, rebates and more that let you reward loyalty… not just discount a purchase. To learn more, please visit us on LinkedIn or @Linkables on Twitter.
