Marketron Acquires mSnap

HAILEY, Idaho, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketron, the leading provider of business software solutions and services for the media industry, today announced that it has acquired mSnap, the largest broadcast-based mobile advertising network in the U.S. and a leading provider of mobile advertising solutions. The mSnap solution is being delivered via the Marketron Exchange platform, providing clients with a mobile solution that includes audience engagement tools, mobile content and an advertising network that will help media companies grow both audiences and revenues. The combined Marketron and mSnap mobile solution is uniquely designed to help media companies tap into new digital revenue streams, make broadcast programming more interactive and encourage audience loyalty.

The mSnap acquisition is a natural progression of Marketron's integrated digital strategy to enable media companies, for the first time, to sell and fulfill both digital and traditional assets through a single, integrated platform. This will eliminate the operational complexity of managing the sale of diverse advertising assets through multiple systems and processes. As a result, clients will be able to offer their advertisers and agencies bundled, cross-media offerings through a unified solution.

"Mobile is one of the fastest growing advertising segments in our industry and mSnap has established itself as an innovative leader in the category," said Mike Pallad, Executive Vice President of Sales for Citadel Broadcasting. "The acquisition of the company by Marketron, which offers a host of cross-channel solutions for media companies, will increase mSnap's capabilities and development. We're proud of our partnerships with Marketron and mSnap and look forward to the benefits this merger will offer our stations and advertisers."

This acquisition will deliver an integrated software solution, advertising network and vast distribution channel to deliver a closed-loop solution with significant scale and impact. In addition, Marketron mobile will become the "go to" network that both mobile publishers and advertisers will use to offer and buy mobile ad inventory. Marketron is the first company in the industry to make this possible.

According to industry research, mobile's reach is far greater than any other technology platform with 4.7 billion users in 2009 compared to 1.8 billion computer users. In 2009, mobile advertising was worth $3.1 billion, less than 1 percent of the approximately $456 billion global advertising industry; it is projected to grow at a CAGR of 45 percent to $28.8 billion in 2014.(1) "Given the vast penetration and growth of mobile, there is tremendous value for media companies that recognize the advertising opportunities," said Steven Minisini, CEO of Marketron. "With the addition of mSnap, Marketron is now enabling our clients to extend further into digital, providing a mobile center piece in the next advertising medium poised for vast growth."

"We are excited to join Marketron, as the company provides the technology and services integral to the success of thousands of media organizations around the world," said Tim Favia, CEO of mSnap. "By combining our expertise in mobile advertising technology with Marketron's software, services and distribution, we will enable media companies to leverage the mobile ad medium, and for the first time be able to sell, fulfill and account for it. This combination also provides significant scale to our network, increasing our leadership position and making us more relevant to advertisers as they move to the mobile medium."

This acquisition enables Marketron to accelerate the growth of the already largest broadcast-based mobile network, consisting of 30 million unique subscribers and 1,400 premium publishers and serving 250 million advertising messages per month. The acquisition helps Marketron solidify mobile's position as a growing advertising channel in the digital space, offering benefits to media companies and advertisers alike, including:  

For media companies:

• Leveraging the local reach and audience engagement of radio to drive new advertising revenues;
• Offering advertisers mobile as a new channel that is a natural extension to their current spot offerings;
• Participating in a mobile network that delivers revenue opportunities that are predicted to far surpass other digital channels;
• Creating partnerships that put media companies in a position to innovate and be at the center of demand as mobile advertising continues to explode as the next significant advertising sales channel for media.

For advertisers:

• Delivering the ability to tap into a highly engaged and trusted dialogue between listening/viewing audiences and broadcasters;
• Reaching consumers in the new mobile medium through sophisticated ad serving technology and audience targeting capabilities that have proven to be 4.5 to 5 times more effective than standard web-based display advertising (2);
• Accessing millions of mobile users in a highly targeted and relevant way.

As part of Marketron's go-to-market strategy, the company's professional services organization will be conducting market-based workshops that bring together media companies and their advertisers to develop and deliver mobile campaigns to ensure adoption, scale and measurable results for media companies.

In addition to the acquired technology and network, mSnap's executive team and employees have been retained by Marketron to create a united workforce highly specialized in mobile advertising tailored to the broadcast media space. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. of New York, NY, the leading independent investment bank for media, information, marketing services, and related technologies, represented mSnap in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor.

About Marketron

Marketron is the leading provider of business software solutions and services for the media industry. Marketron's traffic, digital, business intelligence and exchange platform and services drive innovation to create new growth opportunities that produce the maximum value for our clients and facilitate their evolution into digital. Relied on by more than 7,000 media organizations, Marketron solutions are the most widely-used media solutions in the world, managing an estimated $15 billion dollars of annual advertising revenue. Marketron is an affiliate of The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC of New York, which specializes in communications, information and media businesses.

SOURCE Marketron