New and expanded capabilities under leadership of industry veteran Michael Della Penna will empower companies to maximise their investments in email, social media and customer relationship management

London, July 28, 2010 – StrongMail, a leading provider of online marketing solutions for email and social media, today announced that it has acquired Conversa Marketing and Magnetik, two New York-based interactive marketing agencies with services ranging from email and social media marketing to web design and customer relationship management.  The firms will be combined with StrongMail’s existing strategic services team to form a new email and Social CRM agency called ThreadMarketing, a StrongMail Company. As part of the acquisition, StrongMail is opening a New York office to better serve its East Coast customers.

A recent report from Forrester Research finds that "given the increasing complexity of the email marketing channels – including the need to integrate email with social and mobile channel – the call for strategic guidance will only continue to grow in importance." (“The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2009,” Forrester Research, Inc., December, 2009.) By launching Thread Marketing, StrongMail is expanding its services toolset to provide leading brands with the full breadth of expertise required to help them connect, communicate and cultivate key relationships across both email and social media in a cost-effective manner. 

ThreadMarketing is a new kind of agency that offers CMOs and marketing decision makers a comprehensive suite of strategic marketing services and tools that allow them to listen, learn, engage and influence key customers and prospects. Services include strategic consulting and persona development; listening and monitoring services; proprietary database marketing solutions; web site development; lifecycle communications frameworks; email and social media campaign tools and execution services; community management services; analytics; and innovative loyalty marketing programmes that encourage and reward participation across the social web.

"As consumers embrace social media, mobile and other emerging channels, email remains the critical foundation for nurturing each customer relationship, but for marketers to be truly effective in each channel they need the right tools and expertise – and that's exactly what ThreadMarketing provides," said Sam Cece, CEO of StrongMail. "StrongMail now has two lines of attack for empowering marketers to get the most out of their online marketing programmes – proven solutions from StrongMail and unparalleled expertise and services from ThreadMarketing. With StrongMail, forward-thinking companies can reach a new level of engagement with their customers by mastering the various digital marketing channels available today."

ThreadMarketing will operate as an agency within StrongMail and will be led by Michael Della Penna, a respected industry thought leader and the former CEO of Conversa Marketing. In addition, Magnetik founders Will Kunkel and Doug Steinberg will serve as creative directors at the new agency.

Della Penna has joined StrongMail as executive vice president of ThreadMarketing. Prior to founding Conversa Marketing, Michael Della Penna also founded the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN), an industry association dedicated to helping marketers form mutually rewarding customer relationships. Previously, Della Penna served as CMO of database and loyalty marketing provider Epsilon, where he led all strategic marketing, branding, market positioning, lead generation and communication efforts. 

"When looking at how the online marketing world has evolved over the past two years, the importance of having a single view of the customer has never been more important," said Della Penna. "StrongMail’s in-house enterprise email solutions and innovative social media tools have firmly positioned the company as a leader in helping brands build lasting conversations and connections with key Influencers. With the addition of Conversa Marketing and Magnetik’s services and expertise, we can now provide Fortune 2000 brands with a suite of solutions and insights that are actionable, measurable and impactful."

Conversa Marketing and Magnetik’s client roster includes more than a dozen leading brands including Castrol, People.com, Alliance for Affordable Services and more.

"We’ve worked with Conversa Marketing over the past year to reinvent the way we connect and engage with automotive and racing enthusiasts," said Rob Krin, Digital Marketing and Loyalty Manager, Castrol USA. "With Conversa Marketing’s help, we've been able to create a better customer experience across the social Internet as well as a destination where our best customers can connect and communicate with each other as well as the Castrol brand in a richer and more meaningful way. The results have been impressive, and we look forward to building upon our efforts and results with ThreadMarketing."

For more information about ThreadMarketing, visit www.threadmarketing.com.