• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 21, 2005

In a move spurred by traditional marketers' growing interest in Web advertising, WPP's Millward Brown on Friday purchased online research company Dynamic Logic. Purchase price wasn't disclosed; Dynamic Logic's sales last year came to $11.5 million and the company's net assets totaled $7.1 million as of the end of the year.

Dynamic Logic co-founder Nick Nyhan will remain as president of the company, which will operate as a Millward Brown subsidiary. New York City investment banking firm AdMedia Partners helped put the deal together.

Mary Ann Packo, CEO of Millward Brown North America, said Dynamic Logic would help the company satisfy marketers' increasing demand for research and analytics about their online campaigns. "The brand managers that we work with--traditional CMOs--are really recognizing that it's not just about TV any more," she said. While Millward Brown has done some online research, it's better-known for its work with TV and magazine campaigns.

Packo added that the last six to 12 months have seen a dramatic uptick in the number of marketers seeking research about online campaigns, but she had no precise numbers. Packo herself has a background in online research, having served as president and chief operating officer of audience measurement company Media Metrix prior to joining Millward Brown.

Dynamic Logic and Millward Brown already had several common clients, including MSN and ESPN. Nyhan said that he anticipated that Dynamic Logic and Millward Brown increasingly will work together on projects. "We're going to start to collaborate with Millward Brown and cherry-pick opportunities where it makes sense," he said.

Nyhan added that Dynamic Logic tapped AdMedia Partners about six months ago, in response to buyout inquiries. "We were not looking until a few research companies approached us," he said. "We realized it was probably time to have a partnership, because a lot of interest was coming in unsolicited."