MobileBits Holdings Corp., a provider of enterprise-class social and digital experience solutions has acquired Switzerland based Aixum Tec, a provider of mobile marketing and loyalty solutions for the local business marketplace, the two companies announced Monday.
The acquisition is a sign of evolution in the loyalty marketing industry, said Mark Johnson, president and CEO of Loyalty360. “I expect we will continue to see consolidation in this industry, as mobile moves from the shiny new object to one that will be vetted against other forms of established media. There seems to be a ubiquity of providers all looking to create traction in the market and ability to sustain the numerous providers would prove challenging. Yet the ability to combine/consolidate with those who may have technology that could augment the offering or the ability to appeal/engage a different vertical (e.g., if one is retail focused and the other is CPG) will allow for a competitive advantage and more use cases as to their ability to drive behavior.”
Johnson added: “It is an exciting time to be a marketer.”
The combined companies explained: “Local advertisers want meaningful mobile connections with consumers and are searching for a comprehensive suite of mobile marketing and advertising tools that enable these connections through a variety of touch points. The Aixum acquisition is a strategic addition to MobileBits already extensive mobile, digital and social platform. The integration of Aixum’s technologies will create a mobile marketing network that, for the first time, gives local advertisers an opportunity to engage and foster these customer connections through a complete and seamless set of tools.”
Key MobileBits customers are Comcast, Square Enix, Extreme Pita and Mucho Burrito. Axium has 60 customers across Europe.
“This acquisition creates an unprecedented combination of integrated mobile network capabilities, mobile user reach and the most comprehensive suite of mobile marketing solutions available in the market today,” said Andrew Marshall, CEO of Aixum, in a prepared statement. “The combination of MobileBits’ broad and scalable Pringo Connect extension platform with SAMY4ME provides a unique offering that enables any merchant to quickly and easily integrate any existing applications like loyalty, gift cards, commerce and many others while maintaining only one mobile strategy.”
Walter Kostiuk, MobileBits Chairman and CEO said of the acquisition: “Aixum has built an extensive advertising network and unique technology platform tailored for today’s smartphones and tablet computing devices. This technology combined with MobileBits robust social mobile capabilities will provide the market with a unique end-to-end platform only before possible with enormous development and IT budgets. We look forward to welcoming the talented group of Aixum employees who will certainly complement the existing MobileBits team.”
MobileBits will maintain an office in Europe to continue and oversee its expansion into other European countries. From Aixum, Andrew Marshall will join MobileBits as its COO and Andre Lambelet will join MobileBits as its vice president of technology.