Advantage Business Marketing (ABM) was a private American digital marketing and information services company owned by the venture capital firm Owner Resource Group. The company was founded in 2006 and was based in Rockaway, New Jersey, United States. It filed for bankruptcy in June 2019.
| Formerly | Advantage Business Media |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Marketing |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | June 2019 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | |
Key people |
|
| Services | |
Number of employees | >200 (2010)[1] |
| Parent | Owner Resource Group |
| Website |
Business model
editIn the period between 2006 and 2014, the company transitioned from print-centric to digital media, increasing digital revenues from 11% to 50% of total revenues.[2][3] The company's growth during this period came from both "organic" growth and strategic acquisitions.[2] In 2009 the firm was described as a "business to business magazine publisher",[4] which could be interpreted as a publisher of trade magazines.
In 2018, the organization transitioned fully from a digital media organization to a digital marketing organization, following market trends. As such, the company changed its name from Advantage Business Media to Advantage Business Marketing, updated its logo, and began the overhaul of its digital websites and assets.[5][better source needed]
The organization offered digital marketing services including inbound marketing, branding, automation services, customer relationship management integration, and data management.
History
editIn 2006, Rich Reiff and George Fox purchased several publications from Reed Business Information's New Product Division, formerly known as Gordon Publications, with the backing of private equity provided by Catalyst Investors.[1][3][6][7]
Also in 2006, the company launched the FindGuru business-to-business-focused search engine as a revised and rebranded ReedLink tool originally available from Reed Business Information.[8]
In 2011, ABM acquired Continuity Insights and Vicon Publishing;[3][6] this was followed in 2013 by acquisition of eMedia Vitals.[2] Vicon Publishing was renamed by ABM to Vicon Business Media and instantiated as a subsidiary organization.[6] Vicon operates out of New Hampshire, United States.[6]
In 2014, the firm was sold by Catalyst to Owners Resource Group (ORG), a private equity firm based in Austin, Texas, for undisclosed terms.[2][9] This acquisition makes the first foray for ORG into the media space.[2] In March of 2014, co-founder Richard Reiff left the firm, leaving the CEO position vacant,[2] though there is an indication that Jim Lonergan was brought in as CEO by the new owner.[citation needed]
In 2018, Lonergan was replaced by Bruce Cummings and the company rebranded, changing its name to Advantage Business Marketing.[5][better source needed]
On June 11, 2019, Cummings held a staff meeting where he told all employees that the company was filing for bankruptcy and closing effective immediately. Staff had until the end of the day to vacate the premises.[10] No severance pay was given to employees, customers lost much of what they'd purchased, and many vendors were never paid.[citation needed]
Titles published by ABM
editAs of 2017[update], ABM published 23 titles.[3] Publication titles and ISO 4 abbreviations are as follows:
- ALN Magazine (ALN Mag.)[6]
- ALN World (ALN World), no longer published[6]
- Bioscience Technology (Biosci. Technol.)[6]
- CED, formerly Communications, Engineering & Design[11]
- Chem.Info[11]
- Continuity Insights (Cont. Ins.), no longer an ABM brand
- Chromatography Techniques (Chromatogr. Tech.), no longer an ABM brand[6]
- Controlled Environments Magazine (Control. Environ. Mag.)[6]
- DFI News Digital Forensic Investigator (DFI News Digit. Forensic Investig.), no longer published[6]
- Drug Discovery & Development (Drug Discov. Dev. also DDD Mag.)[12]
- Electronic Component News (Electron. Compon. News also ECN)[9][11]
- Food Manufacturing (Food Manuf.)[11]
- Forensic Magazine (Forensic Mag.)[6]
- Industrial Distribution (Ind. Distribution)[6]
- Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operations (Ind. Maintenance Plant Oper.)[11]
- Laboratory Design (Lab. Des.)[6]
- Laboratory Equipment (Lab. Equip.)[11]
- Manufacturing Business Technology (Manuf. Bus. Technol.)[9]
- Manufacturing.net (Manuf. Net.)
- Medical Design Technology (Med. Des. Technol.)[11]
- Pharmaceutical Processing (Pharm. Process.)[11]
- Product Design & Development (Prod. Des. Dev.)[9]
- R&D Magazine (R&D Mag.)[6]
- Scientific Computing (Sci. Comput.)[6]
- Surgical Products (Surg. Prod.)
- Wireless Design & Development (Wirel. Des. Dev.)[13]
- Wireless Week (Wirel. Week)[9][13]
References
edit- ^ a b c Silverman, Sally (April 27, 2010). "Business grows in challenging times". Morris County Daily Record. pp. A9.
- ^ a b c d e f Rondon, Michael (February 13, 2014). "Advantage Business Media Sold to PE Firm". Folio. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Callahan, Sean (August 9, 2011). "Advantage Business Media's digital road map". Advertising Age. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ Bonsera, Paul (July 15, 2009). "Roy Morance is always willing to lend a hand". Morris County Daily Record. pp. MTW 2 (104). Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "National Media Publisher Pivots Business Model to Deliver Greater Customer Value". PR Newswire (Press release). Advantage Business Media. June 19, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Staff (January 18, 2012). "Advantage Business Media Purchases Vicon Publishing, Inc". Telecommunications Weekly. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ "Former BPA auditor named circ director at Russell Publishing". Circulation Management. Vol. 23, no. 7. Connecticut, United States: Red 7 Media. September 2008. p. 42. ISSN 0888-8191. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via Gale General OneFile (Wikipedia Library).
- ^ "Briefcase: Morris County Company News". Daily Record. Morris County, New Jersey. September 8, 2006. pp. E1 (47). Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Collins, Allison (February 12, 2014). "Owner Resource Buys PE-Backed Advantage Business Media". Mergers & Acquisitions. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
- ^ Dool, Greg (June 19, 2019). "Advantage Business Marketing Ceases Operations After 13 Years". Folio. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mickey, Bill (24 September 2010). "Falsified Recordings Land Eight Advantage Business Media Titles on BPA Probation". Audience Development. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ "2015 Integrated Media Planning Guide" (PDF). Drug Discovery & Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "TESSCO Technologies Names Wireless Week as 2017 TESSCO One Media Partner". Entertainment Close-up. Florida, United States. March 15, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via Gale General OneFile (Wikipedia Library).
Further reading
edit- "They take advantage of expertise in media business". Morris County Daily Record (Interview with CEO). May 5, 2010. pp. DRTW 7 (80). Retrieved August 5, 2023.