GI Insight Buys Majority Stake in Cognesia

UK-based database marketing and loyalty scheme specialist GI Insight has acquired a majority stake in digital media analysis firm Cognesia, formerly known as Intellitracker.

Cognesia develops and markets a suite of online business optimisation tools which includes web and mobile analytics tool Explore and personalisation, testing and targeting solution Engage. GI says its own foundations in loyalty programmes and highly targeted direct marketing campaigns will be strengthened by the addition of Cognesia's expertise in real-time tracking of online customer behaviour.

Cognesia will operate as a division of GI Insight, maintaining its London office, and the two will work closely together 'on certain accounts and on joint pitches'. Cognesia's Head of Insight Simon Roberts and Head of Technology and Product Mark Wilding will stay with the business.

Leicester-based GI Insight will assist Cognesia clients in building a single customer view (SCV) database and using it to improve analysis, profiling, segmentation and marketing communication to customers.

GI MD Andy Wood describes the buy as a 'one plus one equals three deal', explaining: 'Cognesia enables us to move beyond what is already a strong basis for customer analysis, using primarily transactional information, to incorporating data on other interactions with registered customers across digital media so that we have a more extensive picture of each customer's interests, preferences and, most importantly, patterns of behaviour.'

Cognesia's Wilding says the new arrangement allows his company to 'bring together web, mobile and app data with other information such as in-store purchasing histories and recorded preferences in a single customer view... and then understand how those work together.'

In July, GI announced the hiring of analytics industry exec Andrew Adkins as Head of Client Services and Analytics, and former ASDA Customer Insight Manager Melanie Brown as Senior Analytical Team Leader.

The firms are online at www.gi-solutionsgroup.com/gi-insight and www.cognesia.com .