Meredith Corporation Boosts Mobile Platform Presence With Strategic Stake in Industry Leader The Hyperfactory
21 July 2009 - 10:55PM
PR Newswire (US)
Accelerates Meredith Integrated Marketing's capabilities, consumer
brand initiatives DES MOINES, Iowa and NEW YORK, July 21
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP), one of
America's leading media and marketing companies, today announced it
has taken a strategic stake in The Hyperfactory, the oldest and
most awarded independent mobile specialist. The investment will not
have a material effect on Meredith's financial performance in
fiscal 2010. The investment enhances the services and capabilities
of Meredith Integrated Marketing, the company's
business-to-business unit that provides leading corporations and
brands with custom print and online communications for their
customers. It also accelerates Meredith's consumer brand efforts in
the mobile space. Privately owned and founded in 2001 by New
Zealand brothers Geoffrey and Derek Handley, The Hyperfactory
(http://www.thehyperfactory.com/) specializes in powering
businesses and brands through the mobile medium with award winning,
innovative and strategically creative initiatives. With a history
of winning more industry accolades and recognition than any mobile
agency worldwide, The Hyperfactory's clients include Coca-Cola,
BlackBerry, L'Oreal, Vodafone, Disney and Kraft. The company, which
employs more than 100 mobile technology and marketing experts,
supports and delivers globally through its network of offices in
Auckland, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sydney and
Hyderabad, India. "Joining forces with The Hyperfactory provides
Meredith Integrated Marketing with access to the fast-growing
mobile category and complements our recent acquisitions in the
digital marketing space," says Jack Griffin, President of the
Meredith Publishing Group. "The Hyperfactory's capabilities fall
directly in line with our strategic goals and present significant
opportunities for our business-to-business engagements." The
investment further accelerates the transformation of Meredith
Integrated Marketing into a comprehensive marketing services
provider with robust capabilities. Since 2006, Meredith Integrated
Marketing has added interactive marketing services firms O'Grady
Meyers and Genex; viral marketing leader New Media Strategies;
healthcare marketing communications specialists Big Communications;
and database strategy and analytics experts Directive. "Mobile is
becoming a vital ingredient in integrated marketing campaigns,
giving consumers access to brands at key decision points in the
purchasing cycle for awareness, consideration and calls to action,"
says Wendy Riches, EVP, Meredith Publishing Group, who oversees
Meredith Integrated Marketing. "The Hyperfactory is the ideal
partner for us to help us better serve our partners who are
recognizing and seeking to capitalize on this trend." "Entering
into an alliance with Meredith will accelerate our global growth at
a pivotal stage for the mobile marketing industry," says Derek
Handley, Co-founder & CEO, The Hyperfactory. "Being part of
such a consortium of leading-edge thinkers will stimulate our own
creative ideas, design and implementation capabilities, and also
create opportunities for us to compete for a whole new tier of
clients." "This strategic move further expands Meredith's global
footprint as well as our ability to serve our clients on this
rapidly growing platform," says John Zieser, Meredith's Chief
Development Officer. "We are continuously seeking out new
opportunities to align with market leaders throughout the world."
The Hyperfactory was advised by Madison Alley Global Ventures on
this transaction. For more information, visit:
http://www.meredith.com/http://www.thehyperfactory.com/ DATASOURCE:
Meredith Corporation CONTACT: Patrick Taylor, +1-212-551-6984, , or
Amanda Cortese, +1-212-551-7087, , both of Meredith Corporation Web
Site: http://www.meredith.com/ http://www.thehyperfactory.com/
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