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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Mobile Marketing Company HipCricket Secures $6 Million in Series B Funding
BELLEVUE, Wash., June 5-- HipCricket, a pioneering mobile marketing company, today announced it closed Series B funding of $6 million that will allow the company to support strategic expansion of its leading position with the broadcast community and top brands. Over the past two years, HipCricket has raised a total of more than $10 million from angel investors, Broadmark Capital, and a European investment group.
HipCricket's deep broadcast experience has helped build the nation's largest mobile marketing operation focused on generating revenue and increasing audiences for the broadcast community and building loyalty to brands. Over the past 12 months, the company's product and commitment to specialized customer service drove 250 percent growth in its client base by providing measurable, real-time one-to-one relationships between advertisers and their customers and prospects, with some clients experiencing as much as 24 percent revenue growth.
"According to public research, 136 million Americans are sending and receiving text messages," said Ivan Braiker, CEO of HipCricket. "More and more broadcast companies and brands are turning to us because we uniquely allow them to tap into the behaviors and interests of such a large and important group."
The Series B funding will allow the company to continue to expand its services to broadcasters across the country as well as increase the dedicated services available to brands. Additional staff growth supports HipCricket's commitment to offer clients experts who understand their needs and provide turnkey campaigns and technology that offer measurable, repeatable results for both broadcasters and brands.
The company's M3 (Mobile Media Management) technology provides
industry-leading simplicity, flexibility and measurability for running multiple campaigns with detailed results. HipCricket's people conduct extensive training and typically turn creative briefs into executable programs in 48 hours or less.
One reason clients are coming to HipCricket is because they offer results that clearly show return on investment. Hesitancy is normally high for companies considering adopting new technology, but HipCricket's technology helps their clients win new business contracts. For example, a top 30 radio station partnering with HipCricket expects to generate approximately $500,000 in incremental business in 2007.
"Mobile marketing shows great promise for the future, but what is exciting for us is that HipCricket is delivering on the promise today," said Adam Fountain, Principal at Broadmark Capital. "We're excited to support a company that has implemented thousands of successful campaigns that drive significant revenues for its clients."
Mobile marketing is a continually expanding market, with Jacobs Media reporting that in 2007 more than 44 percent of cell phone owners text message at least weekly, a 25 percent increase from 2006. Of the radio listeners who own cell phones, 35 percent are texting for promotional activities.
Public research is showing that this market can provide advertisers with an active and engaged consumer, which is game-changing from old methods of guessing numbers of impressions and ROI (Return on Investment). Response rates for HipCricket's mobile marketing campaigns can be as high as 40 percent compared to 3 percent for direct mail and 1 percent for Internet banner advertisements.
About HipCricket
Formed in 2004, HipCricket Inc, is a leading provider of full-service mobile marketing services for media, entertainment, and brand marketers through its proprietary platform for the planning, execution and evaluation of mobile marketing campaigns. HipCricket technology is an effective way for advertisers to utilize text messaging in a user-friendly, web-based format and is supported with premium client service by an experienced industry staff with more than 100 years of experience in the broadcast industry.
For more information about HipCricket, visit http://www.hipcricket.com.
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