New CEO Michael Schreck Joins Zmags to Lead the Charge into Mobile and Social Commerce

BOSTON, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zmags, the industry's leading rich media merchandising and analytics solution, today announced the appointment of Michael Schreck as president and chief executive officer. Schreck brings 20 years of experience in building and leading pioneering companies that have enabled the world's most progressive brands to deeply engage with their customers via innovative business process, software, and technology.

Schreck joins the company to expand its successful digital publishing business in the rapidly developing mobile and social commerce markets. His deep understanding of retail, loyalty and brand marketing will enable Zmags to provide its global client base with the most advanced merchandising and analytics tools available.  The Company's technology lets leading brands and retailers break free of static online shopping sites and to leverage the unique interactions available on the iPad, the iPhone, Facebook and across virtually all mobile and social channels.

"For smart brands, it's about far more than building an app that no one downloads or continually re-purposing the same online content to a mobile device. It's all about merchandising the ideal customer experience, regardless of platform, to drive a quantum improvement in consumer engagement, revenue conversions, and data insight," said Schreck. "Zmags' technology helps global brands design a uniquely personalized rich-media experience wherever a customer chooses to shop – online, on mobile devices, or on Facebook. When I look at the Zmags merchandising and analytics engine, its active roster of 3,000 leading global brands, and the pace of change being driven by the iPad and Facebook, I see brilliant growth opportunities for our Company and I'm thrilled to be taking the helm at this exciting time."

To support Schreck's vision, the company today announced its new flagship service: CommercePro by Zmags.  CommercePro is the first merchandising and retail intelligence solution optimized specifically for online, mobile and social commerce. [For more details on Zmags CommercePro please see release Zmags Introduces Zmags CommercePro - the First Merchandising Solution Optimized for e-Commerce (issued on May 24, 2011).]

Firas Raouf, a partner at OpenView Venture Partners and a lead investor in Zmags, had this to say of Schreck's appointment: "Michael brings a potent mix of entrepreneurial vision, brand experience, and comfort with the venture community required to accelerate Zmags as it expands its horizons in serving the world's top brands and retailers. Today Zmags is setting forth in an exciting new direction – one based on a firm foundation of success – and there is no one who is better suited to lead the company at this time than Michael."

"Given the unprecedented speed of change affecting the e-commerce landscape from smart phones, tablets, and social media, we continue to see leading global marketers struggle with how to respond effectively. There is a great deal of noise in the marketplace about how brands can tap into these explosive markets, but virtually no one has emerged to offer brands something that actually works, until now. Zmags, under Michael's leadership, provides an important answer that global brands are looking for to engage – truly engage – with their customers across all these platforms," said Kim Wiencken, a partner at NorthCap Partners and an investor in Zmags. "This is an exciting time for the entire industry and I'm looking forward to watching Michael's - and Zmags' - continued success."

Schreck was most recently CEO and president of Corrective Solutions, one of the country's leading business services and government services companies.  Schreck expanded its government-and-merchant client base nationally to include some of the largest retailers in the country, including: Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, Kroger, Nordstrom and nearly 150 District Attorneys across 20 states. Previously, Schreck was a co-founder and a general partner at General Catalyst Partners and helped build several companies from inception, including m-Qube, Upromise, and SmartBargains as well as serving on the board of CoreMetrics.  Collectively these companies were acquired for over $1 Billion by VeriSign, SLM, GSI Commerce, and IBM respectively.

Schreck earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Brigham Young University.  Schreck served as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and Monitor Company after graduation.  Schreck currently serves on a number of private boards and the Presidential Advisory Council at Brigham Young University.

About Zmags

Zmags delivers an on-demand, rich media merchandising and analytics platform to 3,000 of the world's most progressive brands and retailers. The Company's SaaS service enables its clients to design and deliver personalized interactive online catalogs and digital magazines that dramatically increase shopper engagement and conversion rates across virtually any mobile device or social media – whether on an iPad, iPhone, browser, or within Facebook. End-users who engage with brands via the Zmags digital experience are twice as likely to convert from prospects to buyers versus other e-commerce channels. Zmags, based in Boston with offices in London, Copenhagen, and Los Angeles, boasts a client base of a "who's-who" of retailers, e-commerce, technology leaders, and global brands. Current customers include: 40% of apparel companies and over 20% of retailers listed on the Fortune 500 and 55% of automotive firms and 60% of business services organizations from the Global 100. Its private equity backers include both European and North American sources. For more information, please visit www.zmags.com

About Open View

OpenView Venture Partners is an expansion stage venture capital fund with a focus on high-growth software, Internet, and technology-enabled companies. Through its staff of seasoned operating executives, who collectively bring several decades of technology and management experience to the firm, OpenView is able to help portfolio companies with quickly ramping up Product, Go-To-Market, and Organizational and Operational functions to best practice levels. The firm was founded in 2006 and has a total capital under management of approximately $240 million. OpenView Venture Partners is based in Boston and invests on a worldwide basis.

About NorthCap Partners

NorthCap Partners is a Scandinavian focused venture capital company headquartered in Denmark. NorthCap Partners is formed by a team of experienced professionals with a strong track record of developing technology businesses.

NorthCap Partners have strong and well-tested competencies in all essential areas of building successful technology businesses including:

• Internationalization strategy and execution
• Recruiting world-class teams
• Structuring partnership deals
• Sales strategy and operation
• Market intelligence and Technology trends

Contact:

Lisa Mokaba
InkHouse for Zmags
[email protected]
+1 781-791-4570

Zmags, Content. Commerce. Intelligence. Reimagined. and Zmags Publicator are trademarks of Zmags in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Zmags