Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs Company, and Morpace Announce Strategic Partnership

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 01, 2015) - In an increasingly crowded automotive marketing landscape, brands need to align themselves in the hearts and minds of its consumers to make an impact. Therefore, Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) company, today announced a strategic partnership with Morpace, a leading market research and consulting firm, to offer word of mouth (WOM) advocacy and influencer marketing research and consulting services to the automotive sector in order to provide the automotive marketing industry with data and insights to drive sales.

"The automotive marketing landscape is increasingly cluttered, and to stand out and thrive, automotive brands need to tap the power of customer advocacy. This type of earned media is proven to make marketing investment more efficient and effective. It's too valuable to be left to chance, and with the right strategic insights success can be managed," said Ed Keller, President at Engagement Labs and CEO at Keller Fay. "Combining Keller Fay's WOM expertise with Morpace's understanding of both the challenges faced by the automotive industry and the way forward, we will provide clients with a roadmap to win in the marketplace."

Keller Fay is one of the foremost experts in WOM and influencer marketing. Its proprietary solutions include TalkTrack®, the only ongoing WOM tracking system and database, covering automotive and other sectors; Advocacy Analyzer™, which provides data driven insights brands need to activate their highly valuable influencers; and Conversation Catalysts®, Keller Fay's proprietary segmentation for identifying WOM influencers. Keller Fay also offers marketers a unique Total Social™ measurement solution through the combination of Engagement Labs' proprietary eValue™ social media measurement tool and offline WOM metrics from TalkTrack.

Morpace provides innovative solutions and expertise to support and enhance its clients' marketing efforts with market research insights, strategic planning and consultation. Morpace is a Marketing News Global Top 50 market research firm. It has established strong industry expertise in several industry verticals, including automotive, where its professionals work with many of the world's largest original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers.

The partnership between Keller Fay and Morpace will bring together the expertise of each firm to help clients in the automotive sector tap the power of consumer WOM. Research from the Word of Mouth of Marketing Association (WOMMA), the official trade association dedicated to WOM and social media marketing, shows that WOM is a key driver of purchase decisions. In fact, in high consideration categories such as automotive, research has shown that as much as 25 percent of sales can be attributed to WOM advice.

"Consumers increasingly rely on the WOM recommendations of those they trust within their personal networks when making any significant purchase decision," said Morpace Senior Vice President, Brand Strategy Practice David Myhrer. "Healthy automotive brands thrive by delivering outstanding products and superior customer experience, which in turn fuels an emotional connection, driving WOM advocacy. There is no better marketing than the personal recommendation of a trusted friend, family member or colleague."

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) offers intelligent Total Social™ data, analytics and insights for marketers and organizations enabling them to track, measure and benchmark the conversations happening around their brand or industry both online and offline. These conversations are proven to drive critical business outcomes, including sales, while Engagement Labs' tools provide data and actionable insight to help guide business decisions and power marketing effectiveness.

Engagement Labs' eValue™ Analytics tool is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue's proprietary data technology offers real-time analysis to measure a brand's social media and digital marketing efforts, distilling it down to a single meaningful number between 0 and 100 -- an eValue score. Composed of a series of metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), an eValue score measures social media Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands. The Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company, is the only firm to regularly measure offline conversation, which independent research finds is a significant driver of sales with twice the impact of online conversation.

Engagement Labs maintains offices in Toronto ON, Montreal QC, London UK and New Brunswick NJ. www.engagementlabs.com / www.kellerfay.com

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