SOCi Acquires Brandify, Melding Location Marketing Strengths

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Brandify has been acquired by SOCi, a fast-growing market leader in location and social media management for enterprise brands. Brandify and SOCi will combine their technologies and expertise under the SOCi name to serve more than 700 major national and international brands, accounting for over 3 million total store and office locations worldwide. The acquisition includes Street Fight, which will continue to operate as an editorially independent media outlet. 

Manish Patel

Founded in 1997 as Where2GetIt, the company that in 2015 became known as Brandify has pioneered location marketing solutions under the leadership of CEO and founder Manish Patel. Brandify’s location marketing solution set includes store locators, local landing pages, online listing and reputation management, and hyperlocal advertising. SOCi, founded by Afif Khoury in 2012, shares Brandify’s orientation toward local marketing for multi-location brands, with particular emphasis on local, social, and mobile presence management. SOCi has conducted an impressive series of fundraising rounds in recent years and was named one of America’s fastest-growing companies in 2020 and 2021 by the Financial Times.

SOCi’s acquisition of Brandify comes about during a period of consolidation in the local search industry. What makes this particular combination unique is a common business model and philosophy, augmented by highly complementary specializations. As its name suggests, SOCi is the leader in the space where social strategy meets local, and Brandify has particular strength in local page and listings management. Each company also brings robust relationships with clients in different verticals, allowing the newly formed SOCi to serve a vast array of multi-location brands. Both companies recognize the challenges brands face in the highly competitive online marketing space and have catered their solutions to this particular need. In addition, both companies believe the most effective marketing solution for brands combines top-level technology with dedicated, expert service.

Afif Khoury

The market for location management solutions will continue to accommodate a range of agencies and platforms, from smaller SMB-focused consultants to larger companies that may work with a mix of business types. With this new chapter in its history, SOCi is the undeniable leader in local search and social media management for brands. 

The SOCi team is excited to take Street Fight under its wing as the leading media company covering location intelligence and localized advertising. SOCi has established itself as a source of original research and thought leadership with its annual Localized Marketing Benchmark Report (LMBR), just as Street Fight has earned a reputation for high-quality reporting and editorial commentary on a range of topics related to the intersections among technology, consumers, and local businesses. The acquisition begins a new phase of activity for Street Fight, whose readers can expect an expanded slate of offerings. 

Personally, I’m excited to join the marketing department at SOCi under the leadership of Chief Marketing Officer Monica Ho. The rest of the Brandify team will bring their many talents and years of expertise to new roles at SOCi, and the Street Fight editorial team will continue to provide top-notch daily coverage of industry developments with marketing and sales support from myself and the rest of the SOCi organization.

Dustin Hayes is director of marketing at SOCi.

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