Mercurially rising digital marketing firm BlueGlass has once again announced a major acquisition, the second so far this year. According to a post on their blog, the digital marketing firm bought UK content marketing player Quaturo in an apparent all-equity deal that heralds BlueGlass UK as well. According to the news Quaturo’s employees will all be integrated into the BlueGlass organization, including their director Kevin Gibbons.
In a slick move to position themselves in the under-serviced UK marketing space, the U.S. digital marketers move in on servicing what CEO Richard Zwicky termed; “a surprisingly small share of UK companies, making use of integrated content marketing services.”
BlueGlass, a Tampa, Florida media conglomeration made up of online marketing and search gurus, was formed back in 2010. Since that time, now three acquisitions later, the firm has expanded services, clients, and offices. Currently BlueGlass serves big name brands such as; Disney, Home Shopping Network, Allstate, eBay, Macy’s, the NFL, Masco, Thomson Reuters, and Condé Nast, among the 90 plus others.
As for Quaturo, that UK content marketing firm has made a name and a profit only having launched this year. BlueGlass CEO Richard Zwicky commented on Quaturo’s revenue value so far speaking with top tech blog TechCrunch, calling the company a “revenue-positive, cash flow-positive entity.”
I spoke with Loren Baker (below left), one of the Co-founders of BlueGlass, via Skype earlier today. Baker, one of the pioneers in the real of search and marketing on the web, offered this about the decision to acquire Quanturo:
“Kevin Gibbons and the Quaturo team have an approach to content marketing & digital that is very similar to our philosophies at BlueGlass. Their methods and ideals integrate into our long range plans for the UK and other markets very nicely. We have been looking at the UK and Europe for some time now, this is another big play for us.”
BlueGlass acquired 3 Dog Media back in 2010, and Voltier Digital early on this year. In the post on the BlueGlass blog from CEO Richard Zwicky, the BlueGlass boss outlines just why the UK is so important to his company.
Among the many reasons he cites, filling a content marketing void of substantial demand is tops on his list. He cites research from Forrester that lays out a special need in the UK and worldwide for just the kinds of services BlueGlass offers.
Now with offices in Florida, California, New York, South America, Australia, and the UK, BlueGlass Interactive has quickly grown into an international marketing mover and shaker, and a field that has fewer real competitors than most. Despite the vast number of Internet gurus and marketing types floating about, there are actually a very small number with this kind of cohesive strategic planning in place. At least this is my view as a PR and marketing person as well.
It will be interesting to see the BlueGlass moves in the UK, a market with stupendous growth potential.
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