Collective Bias Expands Footprint as Shopper Marketing Demand Grows

Northwest Arkansas

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) December 10, 2012 12:00 am 84 views 

A recent announcement of organizational moves capped another year of exceptional growth for Bentonville-based advertising and marketing firm Collective Bias.

The organization, founded in May 2009, has hired more than 20 new employees in the past three months and opened satellite offices in San Francisco, Minneapolis and New York.

John Andrews, CEO and co-founder of the company, said Collective Bias now employs 51 people — 35 at its downtown Bentonville headquarters — with revenue this year between $7 million and $8 million. Those numbers are a substantial increase from the end of 2010, when Collective Bias reported 20 employees and revenue of $2 million.

To further drive growth, Collective Bias has hired Mary Tarczynski, a former senior vice president and general manager at Mars Advertising, in Oakland, Calif., as its chief shopper marketing officer. In addition, Internet entrepreneur Diane Rankin has been hired to lead the New York office and best-selling author Kristen Brown has joined the company to head the Minneapolis market.

Collective Bias focuses its efforts on shopper marketing through social media. Andrews said that according to research, “consumers’ reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process — either from people they know or online consumers they don’t — has increased significantly.”

The process is made more seamless by social media, allowing user-generated content to reach consumers faster, and it’s the real-time angle that retailers and brands are finding invaluable. Collective Bias has capitalized on the idea with a business model based on the human experience online.

Andrews believes the company has positioned itself as the mecca for brands and retailers hoping to create an engaging shopper community to drive sales.

“Shopper marketing at its core is based on the relationship between brands and shoppers,” he said. “This relationship-focused community has allowed us to emerge as a pioneer in this newly developed industry.”