Xplocial, based in New York, US, began operations in mid-2012 as a "viral" Facebook marketing campaign. Affiliates paid $49.95 monthly fees, earning commissions by recruiting others who also paid memberships. Lawrence B. Marcus heads the company.
The company relaunched in May 2013 with a new compensation plan and product line. This shift maintained the focus on affiliate recruitment and monthly membership fees as the primary revenue model.
Lawrence B. Marcus, known as Larry Marcus, provides an executive biography on his personal website, lawrencemarcus.com. He describes himself as a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant with over 20 years of experience. Marcus claims to be a leading authority on "referral based sales and marketing systems." He states he has shared stages with figures like President Ronald Reagan and President George Bush Sr.
Marcus also claims invitations to the White House to discuss small business trends and work with a special liaison under two Presidents. His website lists Amway, Pre-paid Legal, Mannatech, Usana, and Melaleuca as "clients." The Xplocial website expands on this, stating Marcus has consulted for more than 55 network marketing companies and held numerous corporate and board positions.
He has also acted as an industry expert on network marketing for various State Attorney Generals. Beyond Xplocial, Marcus is President and CEO of Provantage Legal, an affiliate opportunity.
The Provantage Legal website, provantagelegal.com, uses the same New York office suite address as Xplocial in its domain registration. A search shows multiple unrelated businesses operating from this suite, indicating a shared virtual office space.
Stephen Marcus also appears on the Provantage Legal website as the company's Director of Support Services. A poorly photoshopped image of Stephen Marcus is used on the Xplocial website, where he also holds the title of Director of Support Services.
The third executive listed on the Xplocial website, Scott Michaels, identified as Vice-President of Operations, is represented by a stock image from iStockPhoto. The use of poorly edited images and stock photos for executive management raises questions about Xplocial's presentation of its leadership.