Visible

Visible Technologies, established in 2005 by founders Dean Graziano and Jim Webber, carved a niche in the social media intelligence sector. The firm operated from Bellevue, Washington, providing a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform focused on social media monitoring, detailed analytics, and customer engagement tools for large enterprises.

The company's core product, the Visible Intelligence (VI) platform, allowed marketing and public relations professionals to track brand perception, competitive movements, and consumer sentiment in real-time across various social networks. Its features included configurable dashboards and fine-grained segmentation for in-depth analysis. Beyond the technology, Visible Technologies offered an "Insights Services" division, where a team of analysts provided expert research and consulting to help clients interpret social data and make informed business decisions. This combination of a robust platform with human-led analysis was a key part of its value proposition. The business model targeted Forbes Global 2000 companies across diverse industries like technology, financial services, and consumer products.

A significant milestone in the company's trajectory was the acquisition of Cymfony in April 2012, a move that expanded its global capabilities and talent pool. This acquisition was part of a period of substantial growth, supported by over $80 million in funding from investors including WPP, Ignition Partners, and Investor Growth Capital. The journey culminated in September 2014 when Visible Technologies was acquired by Vocus and Cision, which were in the process of merging to create a major entity in the public relations software industry. This acquisition integrated Visible's social analytics and insights capabilities into Cision's broader suite of PR and marketing tools, and the product was eventually fully incorporated into Cision's social software.

Keywords: social media monitoring, social media analytics, customer engagement platform, enterprise social intelligence, brand monitoring, consumer sentiment analysis, competitive intelligence, public relations software, marketing analytics, Visible Intelligence, Cymfony, Cision acquisition, social listening, data analytics, reputation management, market intelligence, consumer insights, social media services, brand buzz tracking, social performance