Online advertising behemoth Glam Media Inc. has scooped up Toronto-based BBS Media, one of Canada’s leading agencies in the online space.
The two have been in a partnership for about four years, but Glam took the final plunge and brought BBS under its wing after experiencing massive growth last year, fuelled by the market’s acceptance of online advertising.
Together the companies have about 17 million unique visitors a month in Canada -- around 9 million from BBS and 8.5 million from Glam. Glam’s main sites are Glam.com and Brash.com, while BBS’s clients include Yummy Mummy Club and Forbes.
The deal is set against the backdrop of recent studies that found Canadians spend the most time online each week relative to other countries. That’s music to an advertiser’s ears because more time spend online means more time to views ads.
BBS media will now be re-named Glam Media Canada, and the company’s co-founders, Mark Boxer and Brian Fields, will serve as vice presidents.
Glam takes a somewhat unique approach to advertising. Rather than simply putting a simple banner ad or display ad on as many sites as possible, Glam works on behalf of its clients to get their products in front of the eyes of people who could use them the most. For instance, if the client makes teriyaki sauce, Glam gets that ad beside stories about cooking or Asian food.
Over the past year Glam has been trying to expand globally, and both buying and setting up offices in places like Paris and London. Glam says they were drawn to BBS because they have strong relationships in Canada, and at the end of the day that’s what the industry is really all about.
A purchase price was not disclosed, but it is reported that Glam paid between $10 to $20 million, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
