Balihoo (www.balihoo.com), the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation (LMA) technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs, announced today that the company closed the first half of 2012 with record growth.

Balihoo doubled revenue growth over the same period in 2011 and increased its base of national brand customers by 41%. The company increased its headcount by 43% in the first half of 2012 to bolster staffing resources for national brand account support, sales, finance, operations and human resources.

“Balihoo’s rapid growth is a reflection of this. We expect to see continued growth for Balihoo’s solutions as more national brands catch on to the significant impact local marketing can have on increasing revenue.”

Balihoo welcomed many new clients in the first half of 2012, including Aflac, Zumba and Thermo King. New client growth provides more than 150,000 dealers, brokers, agents, distributors, retailers and franchisees access to the Balihoo platform to conduct multichannel marketing campaigns customized for their local market with the power and influence of the national brand behind them.

“A growing number of national brands are adopting local marketing strategies to increase sales at the local point of purchase,” said Pete Gombert, CEO of Balihoo. “Balihoo’s rapid growth is a reflection of this. We expect to see continued growth for Balihoo’s solutions as more national brands catch on to the significant impact local marketing can have on increasing revenue.”

Additional first half of 2012 highlights include:

Funding

• Balihoo kicked off 2012 in January with $5 million in new funding led by OpenView Venture Partners and with the participation of Highway 12 Ventures. The funding continues to fuel Balihoo’s aggressive customer acquisition, product development and employee growth initiatives.

Product Enhancements

• During the first half of 2012, Balihoo initiated significant technology infrastructure investments and enhancements to the Balihoo platform to meet the needs of current customers expanding their usage while scaling to meet the current and future demands of Balihoo’s rapidly expanding roster of new clients.
• Balihoo added new features and functionality to the Balihoo platform, including Direct Mail Subscription for automating enterprise-class direct mail marketing for local affiliates.
• Balihoo also added the “Call Whisper” feature to enhance lead hand-off communications between national brands and their local affiliates.

Employee Growth

• Among Balihoo’s new hires in the first half of 2012, notable staffing resources joining the Balihoo team, include:
  • Marty Ostermiller, Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations, formerly Director of Finance at Oracle.
  • Jill Linsenberg, Director of Sales, East Coast, formerly Vice President at Harte-Hanks.
  • Christina Tierney, Director of Human Resources & Recruiting, formerly Human Resources Manager at Kiva.org.
• To accommodate, employee growth, Balihoo added 4,419 square feet of office space, a 50% increase.

Industry Thought Leadership

• Balihoo gained momentum in the local marketing and marketing technology industries by speaking at multiple industry events, including BIA/Kelsey’s Interactive Local Media Conference.
• Balihoo released the results of its first micro-study research findings on national brand local marketing trends, success measurement and ROI. The company will continue researching and publishing its own primary research studies on national brands and local marketing trends.
• The company continued defining the concepts of “Local Marketing Automation” and the “Local Web” with an eBook, whitepapers, a webinar series and videos available online through Balihoo’s Local Marketing Resource Center.

Community Service

• Balihoo is committed to supporting the local community and allocated 1200 paid employee hours for community service work. Balihoo staff took advantage of this opportunity to give back by volunteering for local community service and charitable organizations, including Ronald MacDonald House, Boise Independent School District, Create Common Goods community farm, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Camp Rainbow Gold.
• Balihoo donated more than $3,800 in grant money to fund these and other employee volunteer efforts.

About Balihoo

Balihoo is the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation (LMA) technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs. By automating local marketing, Balihoo gives national brands unprecedented control over local marketing execution and the ability to control the customer experience closer to the point of purchase. Additional information about Balihoo is available at www.balihoo.com.

 

Balihoo PR Contact:
Emanate
Tom Francoeur, 781-404-2405
[email protected]