TrueX

Last updated

TrueX, Inc.
true[X]
FormerlySocialVibe (2007–2013)
Type Subsidiary
Industry Online advertising
Founded2007;15 years ago (2007)
Founders
  • Joe Marchese
  • Brandon Mills
  • David Levy
Headquarters
Key people
Pooja Midha (President)
Joshua Rangsikitpho (CTO)
ServicesEngagement advertising
Number of employees
30–50
Parent Gimbal, Inc.
Website www.truex.com

TrueX, Inc. (stylized as true[X]) is an American digital advertising company founded in 2007 as SocialVibe by Joe Marchese, Brandon Mills and David Levy. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and New York City. As of September 28, 2020, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gimbal, Inc.; previously owned by 21st Century Fox from 2014 until Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 and The Walt Disney Company from 2019 until 2020.

Contents

Company history

TrueX received $4.2 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures in December 2007, and originally enabled consumers to raise money for the social causes they wished to support. [1] It was launched in February 2008 in public beta, [2] and, as of October 19, 2009, its members have raised a total of more than $700,000 for their respective charities. [3] On August 25, 2008, SocialVibe formed a partnership with Interpublic, one of its largest liaisons to date. [4] [5] In January 2009, Jafco Ventures led an initiative along with Redpoint Ventures to raise the total amount invested in the company to $12 million, as the company shifts to a revenue sharing model with the charities it represents (all of the money raised on TrueX formerly went to the charity itself) [3] [6] In March 2011, TrueX closed a $20 million round of funding led by Norwest Venture Partners. [7] In 2013 the company became known as TrueX, and between 2013 and 2014, the company doubled its revenues. [8] [9] In May 2014 the company also received an additional $6 million in funding. [10] Directors of the company include James Murdoch, Mich Matthews, and Jonathan Miller. [11] The CEO of the company is co-founder Joe Marchese. [12] Other co-founders include Brandon Mills and David Levy. [12]

On March 17, 2020, The Walt Disney Company is looking to sell TrueX that considered it as a non-core asset and neither operated as the part of Disney's sales nor tech divisions. [13] Disney announced the sale to Gimbal, Inc. on September 28, 2020. [14]

Engagement advertising

TrueX has worked with Microsoft, Visa, Apple, Disney, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors, Kraft Foods, Macy's, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Discover Card on online advertisements. [15] The company delivers ad units that are self-selected by the viewer in exchange for access to online content such as videos, music, games, or more articles. [8] [16] The ads take over the browser of a user's computer for about 30 seconds, and require user participation for completion. [17] The results are measured in engagement metrics, such as submitted survey forms, video views, likes, and shares. TrueX is also a source of ad inventory for text and visual ads. The company has deals in place to provide ad space with publishers such as Tribune Company, Fox Sports, Pandora Radio, and AT&T, [10] [18] distributing them programatically. [11] The engagement has reduced digital ad fraud. [8]

Awards and recognition

In August 2010, Forbes recognized SocialVibe's engagement for Microsoft Bing on Zynga's FarmVille as one of the "Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns". [19] The campaign garnered over 425,000 fans for Bing in less than one day, and 70% of the fans visited the search engine in the following month. [19] [20] The campaign was also won an OMMA Award for Online Advertising Creativity in the social media category in September 2010. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ Keane, Meghan. "Interpublic Partners With SocialVibe to Tap Into Brand Promotion on Social Networks". WIRED .
  2. ↑ K.C. Jones. "SocialVibe Raises Funds For Earthquake, Cyclone Relief Information Week
  3. 1 2 Kee, Tameka (January 12, 2009). "paidContent.org - SocialVibe Gets $8 Million Second Round For Social Media "Activism"". The Washington Post.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved September 24, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ "Interpublic backs SocialVibe to link social nets with brand - Social Marketing - BizReport". www.bizreport.com. August 26, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ Semuels, Alana (January 17, 2009). "Venture capitalists abandon 'spend mentality'". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ↑ "SocialVibe Closes $20 Million Funding Round". adage.com. March 22, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ad Fraud Creates Worry For Some, Opportunity For Others". adage.com. April 10, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  9. ↑ "SocialVibe Becomes TrueX - Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  10. 1 2 "True[X] Raises $6M More As It Tries To Enlist Big Publishers For Its Interactive Ad Platform" . Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  11. 1 2 Hof, Robert. "In Bid To Make Online Ads More Engaging, True[X] Taps Power Media Trio For Board". Forbes. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  12. 1 2 "SocialVibe Co-Founder Returns as CEO - Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  13. ↑ Patel, Sahil (March 17, 2020). "Disney Looks to Sell TrueX, Ad-Tech Firm It Absorbed From Fox". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ Weprin, Alex (September 28, 2020). "Disney Sells Ad Tech Firm TrueX To Marketing Data Company Gimbal". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  15. ↑ "SocialVibe: How advertising and social media can change the world". January 27, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  16. ↑ Thursday, AdExchanger //; October 14th; Am, 2010-12:10 (October 14, 2010). "SVnetwork Incenting Consumers With Self-Selecting Social Ads Says CEO Samit". AdExchanger. Retrieved January 13, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "James Murdoch Joins Board of Advertising Start-Up - NYTimes.com". mobile.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ Heine, Christopher; 2014, June 12. "Horizon Media Can Now Buy Programmatic Ads Based on Engagement". www.adweek.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. 1 2 "In Pictures: Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns - 19. Bing/Farmville - …". archive.is. January 23, 2013. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  20. ↑ Bing's Virtual Bling Buys Facebook Fans. (2010, March 4). Brandweek. http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/incentive/e3ic70c834af0ab2460c16c05fd01736a5d
  21. ↑ "MediaPost Events". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
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