Mashable announced today that it had formed a partnership with 360i to help brands predict viral phenomena using its Velocity predictive analytics engine. The media and technology company says this is the first time it has allowed outside access to Velocity.
“We’re combining Mashable’s revolutionary tech-driven forecasting model with 360i’s deep understanding of marketers’ business challenges and how to forge new technologies and platforms, to help brands break through in a very cluttered and fragmented universe of content,” said 360i CEO Sarah Hofstetter in a statement announcing the deal.
Velocity scours the social Web, collects behavioral data of people engaging with digital media, and feeds it into the company’s predictive engine to forecast what content is about to go viral. Mashable credits the system with helping Mashable reporters break stories hours before competing outlets.
360i—a digital agency whose clients include companies such as Coca-Cola, HBO, and P&G—will initially have access to the same Velocity dashboard used by Mashable content creators. “The only thing that is certain for marketers is change, which is why we are constantly testing and building new technology innovations that can advance our clients’ business goals,” Hofstetter added.
