Spot Runner, an Internet-based ad agency, has acquired Weblistic, a provider of online marketing solutions, in an all-stock transaction.
“We’ve seen our future as an integrated marketing services company,” said David Waxman, co-founder of Spot Runner. “A key part of that equation is to provide Internet advertising — and Weblistic is really a leading provider of online marketing solutions, particularly for local businesses.”
According to the company, the addition of Weblistic’s local online marketing services will expand Spot Runner’s online advertising offerings and compliment its television and radio capabilities. Television, for example, has its limitations in terms of trackability. Adding the Internet component makes the whole campaign much more measurable and direct, Waxman said.
Waxman added that another area of growth that the integration offers Spot Runner was in the area of online video. “As online video becomes an ever more important aspect of online advertising we’re really going to be able to build that,” he said.
The two companies started talking to one another about a possible partnership some months ago, Waxman said. “We came to realize that it would be much more powerful to build a combined company and we could do much more tight integration and learn more from each other,” he said, adding that the decision was very strategic for both companies.
“This is the best thing which could happen to our customers combined. It would be a way to offer them more comprehensive and wide-range of products,” said Ketan Shah, CEO of Weblistic.
There will be no significant changes in the management of either company. “We’re going to be merging our sales force a bit and growing our sales force so we can sell the integrated product,” Waxman said.
The Weblistic team will remain based in Fremont, CA, which is fairly close to the Spot Runner office in Los Angeles, Waxman said. Shah will lead the product, technology and operations for online marketing services at Spot Runner.
