CIC, the Chinese social business analysts, has been acquired by a British market research company called Kantar Media. It’s a significant investment in the Chinese social media intelligence ecosystem, as well as a big day for Sam Flemming, the founder and chairman of CIC. With China now having over half a billion people online and many of them engaged in microblogging, there’s even more demand from brands to get more consumer insights from this kind of ‘internet word of mouth’ (IWOM) analysis – a term coined by none other than CIC.
The company was founded in 2004 and has offices in Shanghai and Beijing – where they will remain after the acquisition. Kantar is a part of WPP (LON:WPP; NASDAQ:WPPGY), the massive media company that owns the likes of Ogilvy, and Burson-Marsteller. The financial details of the acquisition are not being made public.
Talking to PO from Shanghai, Sam put on his ‘founder’ hat and said:
We have been talking about social media in China and its power and importance for organizations operating in China since 2004. It’s thrilling to have our passion and beliefs recognized. We are even more excited about the future of social media and brands and see great opportunities ahead with our new partner to further build out our technology and develop new products.
In a press release, the CEO of Kantar Media, Jean-Michel Portier – to whom the CIC team will now report – said that the acquisition was “another milestone” for the company and an important move for its business in China and the region. He added:
CIC is an exciting and successful company. CIC will enrich our global digital expertise in capturing millions of online conversations and “making sense of the buzz” in order to provide interpretation that informs strategic decisions and leads to action.
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