Zustek Acquires Three Digital Firms with One Buy, Changes Name to Zeta

Back in September, private equity firm Investcorp Technology Partners bought e-mail marketer Zustek and made it the cornerstone stone of what it said would eventually be a full-service digital marketing agency. At the same time it appointed a CEO, e-mail marketing vet Al DiGuido, who promised the firm would make a series of acquisitions to bring it capabilities in creative services, search and other segments of interactive marketing.

It now appears the second, third and fourth shoes have dropped all at once with Zustek’s purchase of marketing services firm AdVerb Media of Boonton, NJ, for an undisclosed sum. Additionally, Zustek changed its name to Zeta Interactive.

AdVerb provides a range of digital services through three units it recently consolidated into one. They include Digital Grit, which offers search and direct response marketing; creative and brand consulting firm Temel; and Relevant Noise, which monitors buzz on blogs, forums and social networks.

DiGuido on Monday told ClickZ the first integrated campaigns using all Zeta’s services will appear within weeks, and one large brand has already committed to consolidating its digital marketing efforts with the company. He added Zeta now has all the basic components of a full-service offering, though it may seek to expand its media services capabilities and overseas offerings through further acquisitions.

“For now we’re where we wanted to be in terms of services,” he said. “If we find there are any gaps in the features or services we need, we’ll get out in the market and see what’s available,” he said.

The combined company has several in-house marketing technologies, including Zustek’s eBizMailer e-mail marketing product, Digital Grit’s InsightGrit analytics tool and its FeedBlaster search optimization tool, and Relevant Noise’s Sonar “social media mining” technology and dashboard.

Digital Grit clients have included Sony, Digene and Avon, while Temel has done work for Hewlett-Packard and Special Olympics. The latter agency has a pharmaceutical and healthcare division that’s worked with Cephalon, a pharmaceutical, and other major players in the health vertical.

Zeta Interactive will retain New York City as a base of operations. It now has 300 employees in offices across the country and in India.