BzzAgent Announces New COO

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Dec 13, 2011) - BzzAgent, the social marketing arm of dunnhumby, today announced Paul Hunter as COO. Hunter previously served on dunnhumby's executive team as CIO and helped establish dunnhumbyUSA. As COO, he is charged with integrating the dunnhumby operating model with BzzAgent's business. Hunter will report to BzzAgent's CEO Dave Balter and be located in the Boston office.

BzzAgent became a subsidiary of dunnhumby in May 2011. The acquisition is a marriage of the leader in shopper marketing with the leader in social marketing. dunnhumby analyzes shopper data that helps consumer goods companies and retailers better understand the behavior and motivation of their customers. BzzAgent helps marketers reach their customers, encouraging brand advocacy and product recommendations. Together, the companies use the power of peer influence and customer insights to help companies increase product sales and develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

"We are thrilled Paul has joined our Boston office and will help us to seamlessly combine dunnhumby's shopper marketing expertise with BzzAgent's social marketing capabilities," said Dave Balter, CEO and Founder of BzzAgent. "His involvement will allow us to realize the potential business impact of social shopper marketing."

Hunter joined dunnhumby in 2003 at its Cincinnati location as its seventh U.S. employee. He started as a member of the Kroger account, and then went on to help start the Consumer Package Goods (CPG) and Communications & Media (C&M) business units. He was instrumental in launching new methodologies to address pricing, promotion, new product analyses and precise methods of targeting direct marketing activities for dunnhumby's clients.

"Paul has a deep understanding of the dunnhumby business, specifically how our clients operate and deliver value for their customers," said Simon Hay, Chief Executive of dunnhumby. "Since his definition of success is helping a client leverage insight to create new opportunities, we know it will be incredibly beneficial to have him on the ground in Boston leading the charge of truly integrating both companies."

Prior to joining dunnhumby, Hunter served at LexisNexis as a Senior Director in their marketing organization, managing the customer insight and direct marketing unit. He was also the head of Analytics for Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), a syndicated market research firm, in their Chicago, London and Cincinnati offices.

About BzzAgent
BzzAgent, the social marketing arm of dunnhumby, accelerates word of mouth to drive product sales. Powered by an addressable network of over 400 million shoppers around the world, BzzAgent creates measurable business results for marketers through an influential advocate network, a powerful engagement platform, and a proven analytics approach. BzzAgent has been at the vanguard of word of mouth marketing since 2001, running more than 2,000 programs for global companies including Unilever, Wrigley, L'Oreal, and Michelin. For more information visit: http://about.bzzagent.com.

About dunnhumby
dunnhumby is the leader in personalizing the world's experience of retailers and brands. Analyzing data from over 350 million people in 28 countries, we help companies put customers at the centre of every decision. We use our insight to improve customers' retail and brand experience to earn their lifetime loyalty.

Our work with some of the world's biggest retailers and brands has demonstrated that companies which deliver value to customers through personalization become and stay their customers' first choice. This strategic approach to putting the customer first in business improves our clients' like-for-like sales and profit margins -- or, put simply, grows measurable value.

Employing more than 1,900 people in 30 offices in Europe, Asia and the Americas, dunnhumby serves a prestigious list of companies including Tesco, Casino, The Kroger Co., Procter & Gamble, Shell, Coca-Cola and Mars. dunnhumby also includes the word of mouth marketing experts BzzAgent and price optimization company KSS Retail.