- Brian Morrissey

As an agency name, GSI Interactive wasn't exactly catchy, by its own top executives' admission. The e-commerce-focused shop is hoping to change that -- and clarify its position in the marketplace -- by recasting operations under the banner of TrueAction.
 
The new name is part of a push by the 300-person shop to parlay its heritage as an arm of e-commerce tech provider GSI Commerce into a business focused on driving transactions.
 
"We want to be known for actions that can grow brands and help them drive revenue," said Nick Pahade, TrueAction's president, who joined GSI in February 2008 after serving as president of Publicis Groupe new media consultancy Denuo.
 
TrueAction, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., boasts a retail-heavy client roster, including GNC, Toys 'R Us and Christopher & Banks. Since joining, Pahade has lured his former co-founder at Beyond Interactive, David Kang, and Tribal DDB San Francisco creative executive Dorian Sweet.

TrueAction's services rely on figuring out what factors drive users to make purchases -- mostly online but also in-store -- based on actual shopping behavior. The firm then makes changes to sites and fine tunes their marketing efforts based on that feedback.
 
"Everyone wants to talk about mobile, Twitter and augmented reality, but we're still looking at how people are using the checkout process from an emotional level," said Sweet, the shop's ecd. "There's lots to learn from that."
 
TrueAction has expanded this year with the acquisitions of San Francisco Web design firm Silverlign Group and affiliate network Pepperjam.