Oracle Buys Another: First Vitrue, Now Market Intelligence Firm Collective Intellect

Following its acquisition of marketing giant Vitrue two weeks ago for $300 million, today Oracle struck again. The company has just announced that it has agreed to acquire cloud-based social intelligence solutions provider, Collective Intellect. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The seven-year-old company has developed tools that allow businesses to optimize the way in which they monitor, make sense of, and respond to their customers conversations on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. The company’s cloud-based solutions turn social conversations (and Chatter, eh?) into actionable intelligence, boosting customer experience and the generation of targeted leads.

In a statement today, Oracle said that the acquisition was part of an effort to boost the social intelligence tools it offers to its customers:

By integrating Collective Intellect with Oracle’s Software-as-a-Service products and Social Platform, Oracle will enable marketing organizations to create more targeted marketing campaigns; help customer service teams respond quickly to customer feedback on social media; generate targeted leads and opportunities for sales teams; and strengthen how companies build more effective brands using the Internet and social media.

The combination is expected to enable organizations to build stronger relationships with consumers through intelligent understanding of their social conversations and to respond with appropriate action and engagement.

Collective Intellect counts CBS, Advertising Age, Dole, Hasbro, NBC, Verizon, Walmart, Yahoo, and Pepsi among its current customers and has raised $14 million in venture funding to date. After buying Vitrue on May 23rd, Salesforce countered Oracle’s social push by buying its own social media behemoth, Buddy Media yesterday for $689 million. Today, Oracle has countered yet again.

Clearly, both companies are serious about beefing up their social offerings, drilling down into social media analytics, customer insight, and social CRM, but it remains to be seen whether Salesforce has the fuel in the tank to counter yet again. Popcorn anyone?

For more, see Oracle’s announcement here, and find Collective Intellect at home here.