• by Ray Schultz , May 12, 2017

Ackmann & Dickenson (A&D), a digital marketing agency based in Minneapolis, has acquired Jester Communications, a South Carolina firm that supports marketing by marine manufacturers and other companies with dealer networks.

The terms were not disclosed.

The two firms have worked together for 18 months, and their skill sets “go hand in hand,” said Andrew Dickenson, co-founder and managing partner of A&D, in an interview.

A&D offers “full email capabilities” in addition to a range of other services, including Web engineering and mobile app and software design, Dickenson said. “We support implementation and integration of email, and we have marketing people to do the creative,” he added.

Jester facilitates email use by dealers so that it is part of the “personal marketing experience,” Dickenson continued. If a prospect likes a boat, for example, “they can click a button on the app and queue up all information on that boat, and email it to the client,” he said.

The main product offered by Jester is Bolster, a mobile app through which a customer can update content and manage other tasks on Android or IOS. Dickenson said in a statement that A&D will “expand the distribution of Bolster across numerous industries in the marketplace.

Jester has customers such as Mercury, Beneteau, Sea Ray and Toyota Industrial Equipment. Typically, firms in these sectors have large dealer networks -- “literally dealers with salespeople selling a product,” Dickenson said. “They did expensive glossy printouts for years. A prospect who visited a dealer would walk away with a backpack full of brochures.” 

Much of that content has moved online. Dealers can do push notifications and prospects can talk to salespeople on the floor. And the dealers can track response to their individualized emails.

For its part, Jester was attracted by A&D’s engineering and software capabilities.

“A&D is the first company we have worked with that could keep pace with the engineering requirements to solve problems as they arise and help us continually modify our systems to provide the optimum service and options to our customers,” said founder Jared Jester in a statement.  

There are no plans to move Jester to Minneapolis, Dickenson said. Rather, the acquisition will serve as “a means of opening up an East Coast distribution channel,” for A&D, he added.

The integration of the two firms will provide Jester with additional resources. “We have 40 engineers, and they have half a dozen people,” Dickenson said.

A&D offers software development and digital marketing services, and has expertise in mobile app and Web development, and user experience design. It was acquired last year by Clear Night Group, a division of Evening Post Industries, a 200 year-old South Carolina company. A&D also has a location in Phoenix, AZ.