Local goes global

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2011 (5428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hours after it was announced Wednesday that Winnipeg-based ICUC Moderation Services will be bought up by global marketing giant Aegis Group PLC, CEO Keith Bilous was able to guarantee the company won’t leave the city.

He can’t leave. He’s already bought NHL tickets.

“Listen, I waited 16 years for a freakin’ NHL hockey team to come back,” Bilous said. “I got P1 club seats on the first day. I am not going anywhere, anywhere, anywhere.”

Bilous and his business partner, Maurice Gingras, have sold their company — which monitors and moderates online content and community forums for big brands and publishers — to U.K.-based Aegis Group PLC (LSE:AGS) and its digital American subsidiary, iProspect.

Bilous describes his service as an insurance policy for companies looking to protect their brand and reputation online, including the moderation of online comment sections to prevent the proliferation of inappropriate, offensive or libellous material.

With a client list that includes top-tier brands such as Chevron, Starbucks and Coca-Cola, it’s not surprising Aegis and iProspect have taken notice.

iProspect CEO Rob Murray said he has been on the hunt for a company like ICUC with social media expertise and was impressed with ICUC’s virtual business model and corporate culture.

“They’ve got fantastic brands to work with, which is a testament to the work they do,” said Murray. “They’re exactly the kind of company that (we) want to partner up with.”

Bilous added ICUC’s social media expertise will be a boon for Aegis and iProspect when it comes to expanding their digital offerings to clients.

“Aegis was self-admittedly weak in social media,” said Bilous. “By adding ICUC to the mix, they can have an immediate presence in the social space.”

Financial details of the deal have not been made public but Bilous said he is happy with the partnership, adding there will be no staff reductions and management of the company, including his tenure as CEO, will remain the same.

And while Bilous and Gingras are planning to celebrate this weekend, they haven’t forgotten the lean early years.

A decade ago, before ICUC was launched, Bilous and his partner were the sole owners of a failing mobile marketing company called Captive Interactive.

“We made no money,” said Bilous, but it would pave the way for what was to come.

Bilous was offering companies the chance to advertise during live mobile chat sessions displayed in clubs in Winnipeg and across the country.

The chat sessions were supposed to be composed of harmless text-message flirting, or song requests for the DJ, displayed on big screens in the club.

One evening, Bilous was standing in the bar, watching as lewd text messages and “f-bombs” appeared on the screen alongside advertisers’ images.

“We saw a bunch of stuff on the screen that shouldn’t have been there,” said Bilous. “So we started moderating our own content for these clubs.”

Their mobile-marketing business was going nowhere, but suddenly more and more people were calling to ask about their moderating services.

In 2004, they got a call from 24-hour music channel Much Music, looking for someone to moderate viewer comments for their live programs and the current incarnation of ICUC was born.

At the time, no one else was doing what ICUC was doing.

“Three years ago, how many people were really thinking about moderation services?” said Murray. “And look at the business they’ve built off that.”

According to Frank Connolly of AdMedia, which consulted on the acquisition for Bilous, ICUC is a natural partner for larger marketing services such as Aegis.

“It’s a lot easier to buy than to build this capability in-house,” said Connolly of the rationale behind the deal.

“It speaks to the power and usefulness of social media for brands to reach people in the right context with the right message.”

meghan.potkins@freepress.mb.ca

ICUC Moderation Services

Started in 2002

Headquartered in Winnipeg

Employs 180 people; on pace to reach 225 this year

Manages and moderates online content and commentary for companies and publishers

iProspect

Started in 1996

Global headquarters in Boston, Mass.

Employs more than 800

Global digital marketing agency specializing in online marketing and search engine optimization

Aegis Group PLC

Global headquarters in London, U.K.

Global communications and marketing specialist and parent company of five subsidiary networks.