Business News
Bertelsmann Acquires Smashing Ideas
Tuesday 10. May 2011 - Bertelsmann has acquired the U.S. digital media agency Smashing Ideas, Inc. for its book division, Random House. Random House Chairman and CEO Markus Dohle and Smashing Ideas President and CEO Stephen Jackson, announced the acquisition in New York on May, 5th. The companies did not give details of the purchase price.
According to Random House, the acquisition creates new opportunities for Bertelsmann’s book division, in particular for generating new revenues from mobile and interactive content and services. Moreover, as Bertelsmann and Random House announced in a joint press release, it signals the companies willingness to play a leading role in the creation of digital content, and demonstrates their commitment to expanding revenues from mobile and interactive online products and services.
The fifteen-year-old Seattle-based Smashing Ideas is renowned for offering strategic marketing solutions and creating immersive, interactive content experiences, from games to branded sites to story-based applications, across multiple digital distribution channels, including online, smartphones, tablet devices, and iTV. They serve a roster of prominent clients such as Mattel, Nickelodeon, PBS, Cartoon Network, and Disney. Last year alone, Smashing Ideas generated 500 million game plays and half a billion page views for its clients. Smashing Ideas added an ePublishing unit last year, coinciding with the arrival of tablet devices in the marketplace.
Bertelsmann and Random House report that Smashing Ideas will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in Seattle. This also applies to the companys branch office in U.K. Smashing Ideas will primarily focus on continuing to support its current and future customers. The company will in future develop digital applications for its sister companies in the Random House group, especially in the childrens, lifestyle and guides sectors. In addition, Smashing Ideas will support the publishing companies in developing new content solutions for mobile and online sales platforms.
Random House has already worked with the digital media agency in the past. Last September, as reported, the companies had launched a collaboration, with Smashing Ideas developing mobile applications for select Random House titles. The first two apps developed in partnership with Random House Children’s Books , “Wild About Books” and “Pat the Bunny,” both climbed to No.1 in the Apple App Store download list in the category of books.
“Bertelsmann, Random House, and Smashing Ideas are a great fit creatively and culturally, as our recently begun partnership has demonstrated to us. We are driven to create value for authors, brands, and clients, and the opportunity to do so together, through broad-based digital development of innovative and interactive engagement with consumers and readers, is enormously appealing to us,” says Markus Dohle. “We intend to provide our new Smashing Ideas colleagues with abundant resources to help them grow as a profit center, as well as a creative force.”
“We are thrilled by both the opportunity to be part of the Bertelsmann and Random House organizations and by their belief in our company. Were delighted to be a part of their publishing future. We look forward to collaborating on the building of next-generation digital businesses while we continue to build the Smashing Ideas clients base,” says Stephen Jackson. “Being part of one of the worlds great publishing companies will give the Smashing Ideas team access to new global customers within the publishing world and also in many other business categories as we extend our leadership position across all digital platforms around the world.”