Bertelsmann has acquired the digital media agency Smashing Ideas and will put the newly acquired company under Random House’s digital group headed by Nina von Moltke. Smashing Ideas first came to RH’s attention when the two teamed up to develop two children’s book apps, Wild about Books and Pat the Bunny. More apps are in the pipeline for Little Golden Books titles and a spokesperson said SI “will be encouraged to collaborate with other divisions.”
SI was founded 15 years ago and will continue to be based in Seattle under president Stephen Jackson. The company’s e-publishing unit is relatively new and the company’s traditional business has been offering digital marketing services, including the creation of Web sites, and it will continue to offer those services to third party clients that include Mattel, Nickelodeon, PBS and Disney. RH views the acquisition has a way to provide its authors with additional digital options and opportunities.
“Bertelsmann, Random House, and Smashing Ideas are a great fit creatively and culturally, as our recently begun partnership has demonstrated to us. We are driven to create value for authors, brands, and clients, and the opportunity to do so together, through broad-based digital development of innovative and interactive engagement with consumers and readers, is enormously appealing to us,” said RH CEO Markus Dohle in a statement
