In a move that doubles its interactive billings, media shop Horizon Media acquired digital marketing agency Mass Transit Interactive on Tuesday. Horizon has hired all 14 employees of the 7-year-old
Mass Transit, and currently is in the process of formally integrating the agencies, said Horizon Senior Vice President Ruby Gottlieb.
Gottlieb, along with Jason Heller, CEO and co-founder
of Mass Transit, will lead the newly constituted Horizon Interactive. The other Mass Transit co-founder, President Jason Burnham, will become media director of Horizon Interactive.
Mass
Transit, which has done work for clients including Fodor's Travel Guides, Bloomingdale's, and Atkins Nutritionals, has provided analytics for Horizon for the last two years under a strategic
partnership agreement, said Gottlieb. She added that the Mass Transit acquisition will give Horizon the ability to offer e-mail relationship services and expanded search marketing.
Horizon
currently claims total billings of around $1 billion, of which 2 percent stems from Internet campaigns, according to its Web site. The company stated that after the merger with Mass Transit, total
billings for the interactive unit will come to around $40 million.