Seattle-based partner marketing platform TUNE has been acquired into the Perseus Operating Group of Constellation Software, marking the $21 billion market cap Canadian company’s second performance marketing acquisition, following the acquisition of CAKE last year.
TUNE together with CAKE, under the same operating group, is now expected to be the largest source of software for performance marketing professionals and networks, worldwide.
This also creates a distinct advantage for advertisers who choose TUNE to host their partner programs, giving them more access to large scale network partners while maintaining complete control and ownership of those relationships.
“Marketers are spending more on performance-based partnerships than ever before, and Perseus’ acquisition of TUNE represents its second investment into that growth. Our vision is to bring together the best technology solutions for our customers,” said Peter Hamilton, CEO of TUNE.
“It is an inspiration to see TUNE become part of a long term, sustainable business, and we are excited to map out some of the advantages our customers will gain with TUNE and CAKE as sister companies. We have so much to learn from each other and such solid foundations to build from,” Hamilton continued.
Vision for an Open Platform
According to Hamilton’s blog post, he stated that the change in ownership furthers TUNE’s promise to enable both advertisers and networks to flexibly manage their marketing partnerships.
“If you’ve been following along with our product advancements over the last 18 months, you saw heavy investment in our platform to become a true contender in the partner marketing category — competing directly with the advertiser oriented incumbents. Today, we find ourselves with a seat at that table as the much more cost-effective, far more flexible partner marketing platform for advertisers, and with a pure SaaS approach,” Hamilton said in his article.
“Our vision is different from our competition. Instead of saying affiliate marketing is dead or trying to cannibalize margin from affiliate networks, we strive to empower advertisers to work with more networks as part of their partner marketing portfolio, and we do not take a cut of the commissions. TUNE believes that networks are a critical part of the overall mix and require technology that is unbiased and openly integrated so that Advertisers can find the scale they need. With Constellation Software as our new ownership, we are reinforcing that software enablement approach and cementing TUNE’s vision for an open platform.”
TUNE clients shouldn’t expect any changes to their current products, access, or service as a result of this transaction and next phase for the partner marketing platform.
“We are excited to have acquired TUNE,” said Dexter Salna, President of Perseus; “Their strong team and focus on enabling customers to manage marketing partnerships make them a promising addition to our digital marketing vertical with more growth on the horizon.”