It's Good to Have a Buddy on Your Salesforce - Michael Kassan

It's not about the debate surrounding the IPO of a particular company.

It's not about a particular advertiser "throwing the car in reverse" on Facebook advertising.

It's not about mobile usage numbers…at least not yet.

It's about recognizing that the world is re-organizing around people.

Mike Lazerow recognized the need for a toolset to help brands reorganize their marketing efforts around people. Mike worked tirelessly to transform a start-up of twenty employees into a global organization that works with over 500 clients. As Special Advisor to the CEO, I've been honored to be a part of the journey from the beginning – from seeing one major advertiser after another begin using the products, to the brilliantly-executed ad campaign (sure you saw this in an airport over the last few months), and now to today's news that Salesforce.com is acquiring Buddy Media for a reported 800 million dollars.

Before talking about what this acquisition means – congratulations are in order:

· To Mike and Kass – for building a world-class company and being world-class people. It's a pleasure.

· To Facebook – for creating an ecosystem in which innovative solutions like Buddy Media can grow and thrive.

· To the investors in Buddy – who understood the vision.

· To the advisors at CODE - for bringing it all together.

· And, of course, to Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com gets it. They understand that brand messaging delivered through social channels is here to stay - their purchase of Buddy demonstrates a commitment to being the leader in the space. They see beyond the display ad click-through rate of it all and understand that Facebook and Twitter are platforms with ever-increasing functionality for its users. More time spent, more use cases, and more ways to reach consumers – and drive them to action.

Salesforce.com is not getting into the advertising agency business – they are continuing to extend their ability to deliver world-class client relationship management. Salesforce has made significant investments in this space before, such as Radian6. But I believe this is the watershed moment, as it highlights the value of investing in unlocking the power of social platforms. The debate has been about web 1.0 metrics up to this point, Salesforce.com is moving above the noise and its decision validates the place and the value of social networks – of organizing around people – within brand marketing.

Michael E. Kassan is Chairman and CEO of MediaLink, LLC, a leading Los Angeles and New York City-based advisory and business development firm that provides critical counsel and direction on issues of marketing, advertising, media, entertainment and digital technology. Michael can be reached at michael@medialinkllc.com

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