Coty said it has struck a definitive deal to acquire Beamly, a digital marketing firm that cut its teeth as a social TV platform for mobile devices and connected TV platforms.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Coty noted that Beamly’s current core capability centers around social media, and that Beamly will continue to expand campaigns across non-Coty clients. Beamly’s clients include AOL, Bravo, and Oxygen, among others.
Coty, a “pure play beauty company” that markets offerings for brands such as Adidas, Calvin Klein and Playboy, added that Beamly will work closely with its in-house marketing organization to provide “enhanced digital marketing campaigns across consumer segments.”
Beamly will continue to be led by CEO Jason Forbes, and will be supervised by Camillo Pane, executive VP, category development on behalf of Coty. The Beamly New York team will be based in a dedicated section in Coty’s New York office, while Beamly’s London-based team will remain in their current headquarters.
Last year, Beamly, which had originally focused on second-screen apps, also started to target the big screen by extending support to the Android TV platform. Comcast-backed Beamly, which changed its name from Zeebox in April 2014, offers an apps platform that supports a personalized TV guide, content discovery and recommendations engine, and, with select providers, integrated remote control functionality.
“The acquisition of Beamly will address the accelerating consumer shift in time spent from traditional media to real time digital and social media channels,” said Pane, in a statement. “Jason and his team have proven capabilities and a proprietary platform that successfully targets and engages Millennial consumers. Further, Beamly will help us to accelerate the growth of our e-commerce business, and be a positive contributor as Coty advances toward becoming a highly focused, pure-play leader and challenger in Beauty.”
“We have seen our platform disrupt vertical CPC/CPV benchmarks by 9x,” Forbes added. “With Coty, we will enjoy the scale to accelerate product innovation, expanding across clients in a 'mobile first' marketplace.”
