Former GM of Epinions and Retail Executive at Levi Strauss to Spearhead Next
Phase of Company`s Growth
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
PowerReviews, the leading provider of customer reviews and social commerce
solutions for brands and retailers, announces the appointment of Pehr Luedtke as
CEO. Former CEO and Co-Founder Andy Chen will continue with the company as Head
of Strategic Partnerships and a Board Member.
Luedtke brings a unique combination of brand marketing, retail merchandising,
and consumer internet experience to the CEO position. Most recently, Luedtke was
the General Manager at Epinions, the largest user-generated product reviews site
on the Internet. Prior to Epinions, Luedtke held senior strategy and sales roles
at Levi Strauss and Company, where he helped launch Levi Strauss into the mass
retail channel.
"Retailers and brands are adopting social commerce tools at an extraordinary
rate," says Co-Founder Andy Chen. "Pehr brings an integrated marketing, sales
and retailer perspective, and the operational experience we need in order to
harness this significant opportunity. I look forward to working closely with
Pehr to build on our leadership position as the structured content leader and to
accelerate our growth."
The recently published "2009 Community and Social Media Study," conducted by the
e-tailing group, found that more than half of retailers and brands have adopted
at least 5 Social Media tools: Customer Reviews, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter,
Blogs and Viral Videos. The Study also found that Social Listening and Facebook
Connect are the top two Social Media tools retailers and brands will adopt in
the next 12 months. In late September, PowerReviews announced new products to
address these needs - BrandConnect and Social Megaphone, respectively - building
on its core product line of Customer Reviews, In-Line SEO and AnswerBox. Going
forward, PowerReviews will leverage its structured content and SEO advantages to
expand its suite of Social Commerce and CRM solutions and help retailers and
brands drive customer engagement, connection and sales.
"It is clear that social commerce is quickly transforming the way retailers and
manufacturers do business. In addition to improving in-season retail metrics,
social commerce creates fundamentally new ways of developing, marketing and
selling products. And it opens new avenues for better long term customer
engagement," says Luedtke. "I am excited to join the PowerReviews team. The
company, with its innovative product offerings and deep retailer relationships,
is uniquely positioned to become the essential partner for brands and retailers
to capitalize on this sea change."
About PowerReviews
PowerReviews is the leading provider of customer reviews and social commerce
solutions to retailers and brands. The company's innovative tag-based approach
to collecting, organizing, structuring and analyzing user-generated content
significantly boosts product sales and customer engagement. Recognized as the
customer reviews Solution Leader in the Internet Retailer Top 500 survey,
PowerReviews works with over 850 retailers and brands on over 2700 websites,
including Staples, REI, Drugstore.com, Gardener`s Supply, Diapers.com, Callaway
and Jockey. In addition to its Enterprise solution, PowerReviews offers an
on-demand solution for small- and medium-sized businesses called PowerReviews
Express (www.powerreviewsexpress.com). PowerReviews also operates a product
reviews and recommendation site for consumers, called Buzzillions.com
(www.buzzillions.com).
TidalWave PR
Lisa Tarter, 415-203-2462
lisa@tidalwavepr.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
