Mobile ad tech company firm Geronimo has bolstered its offering by making yet another acquisition, AdNews can reveal.
The Sydney-based business, headed up by Matt Hunt, has agreed to buy Digital Media Group (DMG) as it puts into action its vision around transforming customer experience (CX) using mobile.
A team of 12 digital execs, DMG has run 70 digital projects for 40 clients such as Telstra, Jurlique, ABC, Hoyts, MCA, Seven Network, Optus, Fox Sports and Citibank, in the last two years alone.
DMG's founder Joe Purves, who kick-started working for Virgin in London, has worked on digital projects including the Stan app, Telstra Movies, ABC's iView App and the CommBank app, among others.
“The fact that Joe and the DMG team have been behind so many great brands consumers use every day was a big part of why we chose to come together,” Hunt says.
“Whether it’s the Optus EPL apps for a sports fix, the Citibank credit cards selector or even Jurlique’s immersive online shopping experience; they are all highly engaging experiences representing DMG’s strong culture of customer-centered design that will be a great asset right across our business.”
Deals pay off
Hunt wouldn't disclose the cost of the deal, but says it's “the most significant acquisition” it's made in its short history - since 2015.
The move follows Geronimo's acquisition of Tapit Media, a global tech platform enabling Near Field Communications (NFC) for marketing, last month.
Hunt says it acquired all the material assets, IP and people within the company. The acquisition was funded by the shareholders and is a stand-alone purchase by Geronimo. Hunt says there are no plans to carve up the business post-deal.
“We’re keeping the whole company intact. We see value in all areas of the DMG business as well as the synergies we can create across the Geronimo business,” Hunt says.
He adds that a key part of building out its end-to-end offering is ensuring it has expertise in digital experience design, which is where DMG comes to the fore.
While busy with the recent acquisition of Tapit, Hunt says now, all its businesses align tightly “and it's starting to pay off already” as recent client wins from Tapit require digital design expertise.
What's different?
Hunt snapped up it's last deal after Tapit got into strife, with a liquidation notice listed on ASICS earlier this year. However, he says such similar circumstances do not surround this new deal.
With 2014-founded DMG on board it can now help with conceptualisation, responsive web design, iOS and Android app design, logo design and infographics, microsites, landing pages, animated banner ads, marketing campaigns, video and CGI – the list goes on.
The digital agency landscape is competitive to say the least, with creative and media shops offering an increasing amount of digital tools, platforms and solutions, so why DMG?
“You are right to call out the focus on digital and how competitive the market is getting,” Hunt says.
“We’re experiencing huge demand from clients who are seeing their customers shift not just to digital, but specifically mobile.”
When it comes to driving the competitive edge over our rivals, Hunt argues Geronimo and DMG have a mobile first (not mobile only) approach.
Over time Hunt has plans to move all businesses under the Geronimo brand and into the same office.
“As we’ve said from the outset, in order to be world-class at customer experience strategy from a mobile perspective we need deep expertise in a number of areas, but we also need them to be part of an overarching offering,” Hunt says.
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