Collective Bias builds brand with addition of Berg

Kate Berg has been name president of Collective Bias, the rapidly growing social shopper marketing firm based in Bentonville, Ark. Berg will focus on organizational development at the firm which has grown to more than 30 employees in the roughly two years since it was founded and split her time between Bentonville and New York where an expanding roster of clients include Meredith Corp. and the Duane Reade drug chain.

Berg previously served as VP corporate communications at HFMUS, owner of brands such as Elle, Elle Decor, Woman’s Day, Car and Driver, Road & Track, Cycle World and Glo.com.

Collective Bias plans to leverage Berg’s background in technology and media to lead efforts to pair proprietary technology tools with solid influencer relationships. For example, Berg cited a new location-based application the company developed that has been in use for over two months by Social Fabric, Collective Bias’ own blogger and influencer community. The mobile application, called Lüm, allows shoppers to easily document their experiences in-store and post them to create their stories. The data associated with these shopper insights is part of the Social Fabric platform, according to Berg.

As an early player in social networking, Berg founded Avenue B in 2004, a regional social network with thousands of paying members and partner businesses. She co-founded and led her first funded venture in 2007 call M3 Mobile Social, a mobile social networking platform providing real time, location-based social networking on mobile and web. Berg is sought after speaker and author on topics of mobile and social media and was named one of Mobile Marketer's "Mobile Women to Watch 2010."