Type Private Predecessor Cision
Vocus Key people Kevin Akeroyd, CEO Number of employees 1,200 Founded 2014 | Industry Technology Area served Worldwide Owner GTCR Founder Richard E. Rudman | |
Products Marketing and public relations software & services CEO Peter Granat (5 Jun 2014–) Headquarters Beltsville, Maryland, United States Subsidiaries PRWeb, PR Newswire, IContact Corporation | ||
Cision Inc. is a public relations software company based in Chicago, United States, serving clients worldwide. The company was formed from the merger-acquisition of the Swedish-based Cision AB and Vocus Inc. by GTCR in 2014. In addition to its web-based PR software suites, the company owns the online publicity services, PRWeb and Help a Reporter Out (HARO). The company operates offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Contents
Products and services
Cision provides public relations services to businesses, using a cloud-based, or software as a service (SaaS) model. The company helps businesses maximize their PR efforts through social media monitoring and engagement and media publicity services.
Cision's software is distributed in seven languages. As of June 2014, it is used by more than 16,000 annual subscribers worldwide, including commercial businesses and governmental, educational and non-profit organizations.
Software
The company offers three web-based packages: the "CisionMarketing Suite", the "Public Relations Suite" and a "Government Relations Suite". The Cision "Public Relations Suite" allows users to distribute press releases, access a database of bloggers and journalists, and monitor and analyze news and social media sites. The company's "Government Relations Suite" manages government contacts and analyzes lobbying activity.
The platform for PR professionals is an organizational tool to help companies/universities implement an overall strategy and plan for their PR efforts. Once they have a plan in place, Cision's PR Edition enables them to measure its' effectiveness by providing analytics behind their news, contacts, and releases.
Services
Through a series of acquisitions, the company provides services in PRWeb, HARO, North Social and iContact, which Cision has continued to operate under the existing brand names. Vocus also offers consulting services to support the use of its software products.
PRWeb is an online press release service. Press releases published by PRWeb are distributed through news sites and appear in search engine results, allowing businesses to distribute news directly to the mass media and customers. PRWeb services are available through the "Vocus Marketing Suite," the "Vocus PR Suite" or as a separate service.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online service designed to help journalists locate and connect with sources for stories. Originally created as a Facebook group in 2008, HARO quickly outgrew the platform and now operates through its own website and daily newsletter. Help a Reporter Out services are available through the "Vocus Marketing Suite" or as a separate service.
History and acquisitions
On September 15, 2014, Cision announced the acquisition of Visible Technologies, the worldwide market leader in social media listening and analytics, insights and engagement.
On October 14, 2014, Cision AB and Vocus announced a friendly merger of the two public relations companies. Cision based in Sweden will relocate its headquarters to Chicago and so will Vocus from Maryland, United States. The company will be based out of Chicago and the combined entity will be known as Cision.
On December 15, 2015, Cision agreed to acquire PRNewswire from UBM plc for $841 million (approx. £575 million).