MSnap Snatched Up
By Sarah Tolkoff - OCBJ (ocbj.com)Irvine's SmartReply Inc., which creates voice message-based marketing campaigns, recently bought San Francisco-based mSnap Inc., which runs a network for mobile advertising via text messaging.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
We're now able to bring to advertisers an immediately scalable mo-bile advertising network," said Eric Holmen, SmartReply's president. "We believe it's our mission to make the mobile phone valuable for consumers and advertisers."
SmartReply went after mSnap's technology that allows advertisers to send targeted text messages and small ads to people via their mobile phones.
Privately held SmartReply, which got its start in 2001, has 47 workers in Irvine.
The company was initially funded by a $250,000 loan and hasn't solicited any venture funding.
It originally focused on technology that manages voice message-based marketing campaigns, where customers can opt in to be alerted about sales and promotions via pre-recorded voice messages.
Some deals are exclusively for those with a retailer's own credit card. Other messages act like a sort of mobile coupon, with a barcode that can be scanned directly from a cell phone at the checkout register.
Retailers are interested in developing voicemail and text message ad programs because they tend to be more effective than e-mails, according to Holmen.
"We learned that e-mail is becoming easier to block and more ignored," Holmen said. "But when people opt in for voice messages, they only pick the brands they really care about."
In 2003, SmartReply decided to focus on retailers. In 2005, it added mobile marketing to its product lineup.
"Especially in this kind of economic environment, people are interested in deals," Holmen said. "Text messaging gets the word out really fast and has some of the highest returns."
SmartReply's technology helps retailers manage their databases, which are full of customer information and messaging preferences.
The company said it has half of the top 100 retail brands in the U.S. and Canada as customers.
Some are SuperValu Inc.'s Albertsons, Macy's Inc.'s Bloomingdale's Inc., Euromarket Designs Inc. (Crate & Barrel), Road Runner Sports Inc., Wet Seal Inc. and Tween Brands Inc.'s Limited Too.
SmartReply's retailer customers pay monthly fees and fees per message.
The company is profitable and saw roughly $11 million in sales last year, according to Holmen.
SmartReply also went after mSnap for its customers.
MSnap, which started in 2006, counts more than 1,100 radio stations, newspapers and cable TV stations as customers.
It provides text messages to traditional media companies for free. Radio stations, for example, use text messages to encourage listeners to sign up for updates about concerts or contests.
MSnap and its media company customers make money by placing an ad in each text message sent.
Next up for SmartReply is targeting other markets that want to do mobile marketing, such as fast food restaurants and banks.
About SmartReplySmartReply's voice and mobile messaging solutions have created breakthrough-marketing results for leading retailers throughout the United States and Canada. As the only voice and mobile messaging company dedicated to meeting the unique marketing challenges and objectives of retail executives, SmartReply's clients now have the proven ability to increase store traffic, lower marketing cost and strengthen brand affinity. Because of this, SmartReply is the provider of choice for more than 80 major regional and national retailers. Headquartered in Irvine, California, more information for partners and clients can be found at
www.SmartReply.com or by calling (800)-785-6769.