Analytics firm makes Bono rattle and hum

US-- Private equity firm Elevation Partners, which counts U2 star Bono as a managing director and co-founder, has taken a minority stake in marketing analytics firm Marketshare Partners.

Using a suite of proprietary software tools Marketshare analyses macro-economic factors, brand buzz and client-specific data to advise companies on effective marketing, sales and promotional spend. It counts Charles Schwab, Electronic Arts and Mercedes-Benz among its clients.

With a $1.9bn float, Elevation Partners was established to invest in intellectual property and content-oriented businesses, as well as traditional media and entertainment companies.

Marketshare's joint CEOs, Jon Vein and Wes Nichols, said: “Elevation Partners' expertise in media, marketing and entertainment makes them the right partner for us as we bring next-generation technology to the world of marketing and media measurement – a world screaming for innovation.”

Ted Meisel, senior advisor at Elevation, said: “With the fundamental shift in the media industry resulting in consumers receiving information through multiple new, non-traditional channels, marketing executives need to understand how to adapt their advertising and sales strategies to this fragmented environment.

Details of the investment in the three-year-old company were not disclosed.

Author: Marc Brenner