CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SIM Partners (SIM) (www.simpartners.com), a provider of local and social marketing automation technology, today announced the appointment of Tari Haro as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). SIM also announced the relocation of its headquarters to the Chicago loop as it ramps up sales and marketing of its Velocity local marketing platform to align with the growing demand of customer acquisition tools for multi-location enterprise brands.
A proven business-to-business technology marketing and public relations executive, Haro brings more than 17 years of experience to SIM. Most recently she was the CMO of iCrossing, where she spent eight years leading an integrated marketing program to drive industry recognition, market leadership and transformational growth for the agency.
As CMO of SIM, Haro will lead marketing operations and steer the company’s growth strategy as the firm continues to build out Velocity, a SaaS customer acquisition tool that helps multi-location enterprise brands drive visibility and customer acquisition across local markets. Haro will report directly to CEO Jon Schepke.
“Tari’s strategic approach, industry knowledge and track record building power-house brands make her the right marketing leader to take our business to the next level,” said Schepke. “Tari joining SIM positions us well for continued growth in the local marketing sector and signals big things ahead.”
Prior to iCrossing, Haro was the director of marketing and public relations for Agency.com following a career in politics as the deputy press secretary for Nebraska Governor E. Benjamin Nelson. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“The opportunity to tell the SIM story, as well as join Chicago’s booming tech scene, is one I couldn’t pass up,” said Haro. “Over the last eight years, Jon and the team have been quietly building the most comprehensive local customer acquisition platform in the market – I’m excited to build on what is already an amazing company and best-in-class product, by giving the brand a voice.”
Along with Haro’s appointment, SIM announced it has moved its headquarters to 30 N. LaSalle, in the Chicago loop, to accommodate future growth. Currently, SIM has more than 60 employees and expects to double in size within the next year. A list of nearly a dozen open positions, which span product development, marketing and sales can be found on the SIM site: www.simpartners.com/about-us/careers/.
Haro’s hire and the new office continue the momentum SIM has built since announcing $8M in Series A funding in June, led by River Cities Capital Funds, a growth equity firm investing in healthcare and IT companies, and Jump Capital, a growth capital firm focused on high growth technology-enabled companies.
The growth capital was earmarked for enhancing the industry leading capabilities of the Velocity platform and expanding the team to address growing demand for local marketing technology solutions. According to BIA/Kelsey, local digital ad spending is expected to hit $23.1 billion in the coming year, expanding to $44.5 billion by 2017.
“SIM Partners is well positioned to take advantage of this growing market,” added Schepke. “We are excited that River Cities and Jump Capital share our vision about the local opportunity.”
Editors’ Note: Photos of Tari Haro and new office are available upon request
About SIM Partners
SIM Partners’ Velocity technology empowers enterprise brands to maximize digital marketing results at a local level by optimizing location-specific content and business information to dominate local, mobile and social search results for hundreds or thousands of local entities. SIM provides a full suite of digital marketing technology, anchored by its SaaS based local marketing solutions: Velocity and Velocity Social. A social CRM tool and extension of the Velocity platform, Velocity Social enables large brands to effectively manage social communities for multiple locations on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and empowers locations to build their businesses with social media while ensuring each post complies with brand standards. SIM Partners has offices in Chicago and San Francisco and authorized resellers in Australia and Germany. For more information, visit www.simpartners.com.
