Brains and Brawn: Aspen enhances brand-strategy resources with B-12 buy.
Aspen Marketing Group says it gained a “classic promotion agency” with a background in strategic brand planning in January by acquiring B-12, the latest purchase in a two-year buying binge. B-12 also gives Los Angeles-based Aspen its first foothold in New York City.
Nine-year-old B-12 launched in 1991 as an affiliate of Milton Samuels Advertising called MSA Promotions. It changed its name to B-12 and moved to New York’s SoHo section in 1998, but more recently found new digs near the World Trade Center to better accommodate a growing 40-person staff. The agency ranked 37th on the 1999 promo 100 list with $4.9 million in net revenue and two-year growth of 89 percent after acquiring fellow Manhattan shop Sukon Marketing Communications during the year.
Privately held Aspen, one of the 10 largest promotion agencies with $46.7 million in 1998 net revenue, was attracted to B-12’s recent success in the Internet segment, where it has recently snared such clients as Netflix.com, Nowlending.com, Mybytes.com, and WeddingNetwork.com. The agency opened a three-person office in San Francisco in January to service dot-com clients.
“They understand the importance of integrating technology with marketing, and have a proven track record for creating effective user-acquisition and retention programs for many e-commerce brands,” says Aspen ceo and president Neal Vitale. “The dot-coms are realizing that what will work in traditional media will work for them as well.”
B-12 should help Aspen move beyond its current sales and vendor relationships to establish “long-standing strategic relationships” with clients, Vitale adds.
Aspen has acquired 12 companies since 1996, most recently making deals to buy interactive voice-response specialist Phoneworks and Hispanic agency Luna Bacardi (January promo).
“It’s a beautiful fit,” says B-12 ceo and chief creative officer Scott Ballin, who remains in those posts. Ballin notes that the merger gives B-12 access to Aspen clients who might benefit from its brand positioning and development skills. “We have had success tapping into the realm of e-commerce because we understand the necessary balance between online and offline marketing,” he says.
