Balihoo (www.balihoo.com), the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation (LMA) technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs, announced today that the company closed the second half of 2012 with strong customer growth across multiple sectors, including: consumer brands, restaurants, and healthcare. Balihoo also introduced strategic product enhancements and expanded its client services and product management staff to better meet the needs of its rapidly growing customer base.

Balihoo welcomed many new clients in the second half of 2012, including: Wendy’s, New Balance and Gentiva. New client growth provides more than 220,000 dealers, brokers, agents, retailers and franchisees access to the Balihoo platform to conduct multichannel marketing campaigns customized for their local market with the power of the national brand behind them.

“Balihoo’s strong momentum in the second half of 2012 clearly shows that local marketing as a strategy for growing revenue is taking hold among national brands from many different industries, sectors and segments,” said Pete Gombert, CEO of Balihoo. “We expect this trend to gain even greater momentum in 2013, and we’re in a strong position to provide the product, technology and professional services national brands need to capture local marketing demand.”

Second half of 2012 highlights include:

Product Enhancements

• Subscription Email - National brands using the Balihoo platform can now arm local affiliates with sophisticated, triggered-based email campaigns. With a single subscription, local marketers can execute detailed email nurture programs to drive engagement, up-sell and cross-sell within their existing local customer base.
• Multi-Language - The Balihoo user application is now built to support multiple languages. This allows national brands to deliver the Balihoo solution to their affiliates in their native language, dramatically increasing adoption rates.

Management Growth

• Balihoo continued hiring in the second half of 2012. Notable strategic hires joining the Balihoo team, include:
  • Peter Anewalt, VP of Professional Services for Balihoo. Prior to Balihoo, Peter served as VP of Global Services for Unica.
  • Steve Oriola, SVP of Product Management. Steve was VP of Product Management at Brightcove prior to Balihoo. Prior to Brightcove, Steve served as VP of Product Management and Business Development for Constant Contact.
  • Dan Keefe, SVP of Sales. Dan was VP of Sales at Anaplan prior to Balihoo. Prior to Anaplan, Dan was SVP at The SAVO Group.
• Steve Wellen, COO at DOMO Inc., joined Balihoo’s board of directors. Steve brings more than 30 years of software industry experience from such companies as Oracle, Siebel Systems, and Omniture.

Awards

• Balihoo was named to the Inc. 500/5000 for the third straight year.
• The company was also named to the Red Herring Global 100 list.

Industry Thought Leadership

• Balihoo’s “National Brand Use of Digital in Local Marketing” micro-study provided important insights into the opportunities and challenges for national brands seeking to leverage digital channels for local marketing. The company’s research and perspectives on local marketing trends were featured in AdAge, Forbes, Business Insider, Digiday, Mediapost, Screenwerk, and many other leading publications.
• The company launched the Local Marketing Resource Center – home to over 70 thought leadership pieces such as, the whiteboard video series, the “Why Mobile” e-book and the local marketing ROI calculator.
• Balihoo also partnered externally, speaking at industry events such as Mediapost's Search Insider Summit and holding joint webinars with industry leaders such as BIA/Kelsey.

Community Service

• Balihoo continued supporting the local community by allocating over 400 paid employee hours for community service work. Balihoo’s staff took advantage of this opportunity to give back by volunteering for local community service and charitable organizations, including Ronald MacDonald House, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Idaho Food Bank and Boise Rescue Mission.

About Balihoo

Balihoo is the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation (LMA) technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs. By automating local marketing, Balihoo gives national brands unprecedented control over local marketing execution and the ability to control the customer experience closer to the point of purchase. Additional information about Balihoo is available at www.balihoo.com.