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Ex-McCann chief Brien invests in US start-up Chirpify: 'Biggest bet so far'

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

August 1, 2013 | 3 min read

Highly-regarded British adman Nick Brien, ousted in November as Worldgroup's chairman and CEO, in New York has invested in a Oregon -based startup called Chirpify that enables in-stream purchases on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Nick Brien: Biggest bet

Chirpify has raised $6 million from what AdAge "calls an eclectic group on investors."

Since Brien, 50, left McCann abruptly in November with a $4million pay-off, he's invested in five startups. He wouldn't say how much he's put into Chirpify, but called it his "biggest bet" to date.

His other investments include a Seattle-based e-commerce play called BevyUp and an online gift-carding startup that he's in final stages of negotiations with.

Brien said his interest in Chirpify extends beyond its social-commerce technology to its potential for brand marketers, many of whom are still lagging in their digital capabilities.

A tool like Chirpify could become "compelling to big brands" by making their investment in social measurable in terms of sales that are directly generated, he said.

"The issue is, how can a technology help marketers work cross-channel to close the gap between consideration and purchase?" he said. "I saw an innovation here that was going to help large-scale marketers use social media in a very dynamic way."

Founded last year, Chirpify has 13 employees . It aims to spur fans to buy an artist's single straight off of a social channel, with customers including Green Day and Snoop Dogg.

Its systems lets consumers make a purchase by commenting on a post that's been set up as a Chirpify commerce listing, which opens a window asking for their credit card information if they haven't used the platform before.

Chirpify makes money, said AdAge, by charging a monthly licensing fee, as well as a 2.9% fee plus 30 cents on transactions for commerce listings. It can also be used to drive actions like newsletter signups and contest entries.

It is looking to get more traction among agencies. CEO Chris Teso is hopeful that Brien's connections will help.

Teso said they had done a little bit of outreach."We're going to concentrate more effort on it."

He wouldn't say how many users Chirpify currently has but said it's adding 300 to 400 a day.

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