US Segmentation Firm Buys

In the US, interactive marketing services provider Rosetta, whose expertise includes personality-based customer segmentation and web analytics, has recently acquired rival Brulant for an undisclosed sum.

Rosetta's workforce will grow from around 250 to more than 600 as a result of the deal, and revenues are expected to rise from $60m to $130m, according to its founder and CEO Chris Kuenne.

Brulant's founder, CEO and majority owner Len Pagon will take the title of Vice Chairman of Growth Initiatives for the combined company. The firms say Brulant's offices in Cleveland, Chicago and Boston will remain open and no jobs will be lost, although the Brulant name will be phased out by early next year at the latest. Rosetta already has locations in Princeton, New York and Denver.

Founded in 1998, Rosetta's original offering was market research to help targeting and interactive marketing. Kuenne describes the Internet as 'a marketer's dream', and believes the research landscape is changing dramatically to one where companies can reach precise conclusions about customer preferences and the reasons for them.

Rosetta acquired interactive marketing agency SimStar, Inc., also based in Princeton, in 2005. Pagon says the companies plan to grow further, and have looked at a large number of possible acquisition targets. Web sites: www.rosetta.com (no non-Flash site available) and www.brulant.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.