Janrain Key Partner in New Cox Media Group Mobile App Giving SXSW Visitors and Central Texas Residents a New Entertainment Tool

AUSTIN, TX and PORTLAND, OR–(Marketwired – Mar 7, 2014) – (SXSW) — Janrain, the premier provider of customer data management, and Cox Media Group, operating in more than 20 media markets reaching approximately 52 million Americans weekly, today announced the launch of the Austin360 app, a product of the Cox-owned Austin American-Statesman news organization providing residents and visitors with a comprehensive and customizable resource for the area’s best events, venues, restaurants and nightlife. The innovative app uses Janrain’s customer management platform to simplify and unify the experience for users across devices, media properties and more, while giving Cox and the Statesman comprehensive insight to create better personalization and more targeted outreach.

“Our goal is to continually innovate in publishing to build strong customer and business partner relationships at the local level,” said Rebekah King, Director of Customer Engagement, Cox Media Group. “The Austin360 app is a perfect example, leveraging Janrain’s platform to build an understanding of our local customers that helps us serve them better whenever they engage with us across any of the Cox Media products. The customer has complete freedom of access, and with the Janrain platform working for us we can still recognize them and serve relevant content, regardless of the device they’re on. This is the future for both publishers and business partners, and a model we plan to replicate with Janrain in other markets.”

The free Austin360 app simplifies life for busy, social consumers, while serving up a uniquely Austin experience — exemplified by the “Get Weird!” button for Austin’s more adventurous crowd of food and fun-finders. The Austin360 app provides a one-stop source combining the best features of popular entertainment utility apps for browsing and planning social activities. It highlights content from Austin360 and Austin 360.com and makes it actionable and sharable, transforming reporting and static listings into memorable experiences. It enables users to create event invitations within the app and communicate with friends leading up to scheduled events. Users can easily register a new account or login using a pre-existing Statesman or Austin360 user account (powered by Janrain). Once logged in, users can quickly find and share custom Austin-specific content with friends and family, and their preferences will follow them for a personalized experience across iOS or Android devices, desktops and browsers.

 “We’re always seeking new ways to provide value, deliver more than just the news, and to engage our audience where they live, work and play,” said Steve Dorsey, VP of Innovation and Planning, Austin American-Statesman. “This app is a logical next step in our mobile strategy, reflecting Austin’s incredible technology culture while giving residents and visitors alike the best insight into the vast entertainment options the city has to offer. We’re excited that this project is built on multiple platforms, but tied together by Janrain technology, which allows us to recognize users and personalize their experience on whatever platform they prefer.”

Janrain’s platform provides a unified view of the customer — whether they’re using a mobile device or across web browsers. Unlike cookies, Janrain helps leading enterprise brands collect valuable data and connect it to a single view of each customer. “Many organizations still collect and store their customer data in separate silos by department, never really knowing the entire profile of their most valued asset,” said Larry Drebes, CEO, Janrain. “Our platform enables companies such as Cox Media Group to make smarter choices, offer targeted opportunities and work from a more complete understanding of their customers. We look forward to continuing our partnership as the company expands this localized mobile model into additional markets.”

Media Event at SXSW
Austin360 App Breakfast Launch Party
Saturday, March 8, 9-11AM, Statesman Offices: 305 S. Congress St. ATX, 78704

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps. Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America’s leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings. The company’s operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 3.5 million print and online newspaper readers, and more than 14 million radio listeners. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com. 

About the Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the leading source for news, entertainment, shopping and information as well as advertising solutions in Central Texas. The Statesman family of brands includes six community newspapers; Austin360, the entertainment publication; and ¡ahora sí!, the Spanish-language publication. The print publications reach more than 730,000 readers each week. Statesman and Austin360 digital platforms account for more than 5.5 million visitors who access more than 21 million pages each month. These digital editions are available for smartphone, laptop/PC and tablet. The diverse multimedia company also includes commercial printing, packaging and delivery services. The Austin American-Statesman is part of Cox Media Group. For more information, contact Shannon Cockrell, Director of Consumer Marketing, at (512) 445-3525. For advertisers: Statesman Solutions, found at StatesmanSolutions.com, represents the portfolio of advertising products and solutions. Visit www.statesman.com and www.austin360.com or follow @statesman and @austin360.

About Janrain
The Janrain Customer Profile Management Platform helps organizations succeed on the social web with leading technology that leverages social network identities with an enterprise class infrastructure for profile data storage and enhanced customer intelligence. Janrain solutions include social login, registration, profile data storage, single sign-on, social sharing, and analytics. The Janrain platform improves the effectiveness of online marketing initiatives for leading brands like Fox, Universal Music Group, Whole Foods, Philips, Pfizer, Mattel, Samsung, and Dr Pepper. Founded in 2005, Janrain is based in Portland, Oregon. For more information, please call 1-888-563-3082 or visit www.janrain.com and follow @janrain.