AMP Agency Snags Rock Coast Media

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Boston-based creative, interactive, PR, and marketing player AMP Agency, a division of Alloy Media + Marketing, has acquired Rock Coast Media, a Newburyport, MA, shop specializing in search marketing and social media marketing strategy.

In discussing the deal, officials from both companies pointed to the benefits of pooling their talents, noting advertisers increasingly want to work with agencies capable of crafting campaigns integrating diverse technologies and platforms. In buying Rock Coast Media, AMP Agency, which calls itself a "full-service experiential marketing agency," said it is bolstering its search and social media side.

Rock Coast Media President Stephen Anderson said it had become apparent his team "really needed to be integrated" with a company that could provide a "full media plan, a full interactive approach." He and AMP Agency SVP of Media Services Karen Macumber noted the companies worked together in the past on projects, including one for Boyne Resorts, and found they made a good team. "We had that search element and they had the other components," Anderson said.

Macumber said AMP Agency clients will benefit from the Rock Coast deal because "there are not many agencies out there now that can say they have truly integrated media offerings across earned media as well as paid media and search." She said AMP Agency had the ability to do only "very small" search marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns in-house and needed to partner with other companies, such as Rock Coast, to handle larger engagements.

AMP Agency clients include Maybelline New York, US Cellular, and MassPort. Rock Coast's included Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Princess Cruises, and Cunard Line.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Rock Coast employs 10; AMP Agency employs 105, including 75 based in Boston.