IBM has announced its intent to acquire Resource/Ammirati — a leading, US-based digital marketing and creative agency —to help it address rising demand from businesses seeking to reinvent themselves for the digital economy and provide differentiated experiences to their customers. This is IBM’s first acquisition of a digital marketing creative agency and adds to IBM’s design and digital experience capabilities. The acquisition is said to support IBM’s goal of helping clients digitally reinvent to create transformative brand experiences. The deal is projected to close in the first quarter of 2016, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions and applicable regulatory reviews.
IBM Interactive Experience, already one of the larger experience design firms, provides strategy, creative and design to scalable digital, commerce, mobile and wearable platforms — like consumer apps for the Apple Watch — and has client who include Air Canada, Boston Children’s Hospital, Citi and Staples across some 24 global IBM Studios to co-create innovations that drive results. Columbus OH-based Resource/Ammirati has 300+ associates across its offices in Columbus, Chicago and New York, and will continue to serve a roster of clients such as Birchbox, DSW, Nationwide, Nestlé, Newell Rubbermaid, North American Breweries, Shaw Industries, Sherwin Williams, Toys “R”Us and White Castle, among others. bResource/Ammirati has been known for some “firsts” in the digital marketing space — from infamously “breaking the internet” with the Victoria’s Secret Webcast Fashion Show during the Super Bowl, to being the first to tackle Facebook eCommerce capability for The Limited, Home Depot and P&G, to creating Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap Studio, an Ad Age App of the Decade, and the digital personalized circular, CVS’s myWeekly Ads.
“We see in IBM iX a reflection of Resource/Ammirati’s own mission to use creativity, technology and collaboration to make anything possible for our clients,” said Resource/Ammirati Founder and Chairman Nancy Kramer. “Our associates and clients will all benefit from IBM’s global reach and resources, including access to additional strategic, design and development talent as well as powerful analytics and technology expertise in cloud, mobile development and systems integration. Additionally, IBM’s legacy of progressive, associate-centric practices is a perfect match for our company’s culture.”
