Brett Hurt, who founded analytics company Coremetrics Inc., has launched Bazaarvoice, a new company that seeks to harness the power of word of mouth advertising for online marketers. Sam Decker, who formerly headed up Dell.com, has joined the company as vice president of marketing and products.
Hurt, president and CEO, describes as underlying the formation of the new company a “tectonic shift in power from marketing executives to consumers. Word of mouth, which drove product decisions in the original bazaars, has a profound impact on business success in the open online market," he says. “Bazaarvoice was founded to give online brand marketers the technology, team and processes they need to help customers build their business for them.
The company, which recently secured nearly $4 million in funding from Austin Ventures, is developing outsourced technology and services that will allow retailers to encourage and harness world of month, bringing it more in line with the brand and customers’ experience. Bazaarvoice expects to launch in first product some time in the first quarter.
Decker spent seven years at Dell, leading Dell.com from 1999 to 2003 and later directing marketing at the installed-base marketing division. Previously, he was with a number of b2b b2c start-ups, involved in online community building. He is a member of the board of advisors for the Web Analytics Association.
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