If you’re a technology company in Atlanta, you’ve got a big supply of talent in the city with Georgia Tech grads all over the place. But if you’re a technology company in Atlanta that’s also partly an advertising company, you probably need a presence in New York, too.
Thus, ViTrue Inc. of Atlanta agreed to acquire UGENmedia of New York, according to ViTrue’s legal counsel, Morris, Manning & Martin partners Ed Hirsch and Paul Arne.
ViTrue peddles software to big companies which allow those companies’ consumers to make Internet videos about how much they love their products. The companies then distribute those consumer-made videos in places like YouTube.
One such video: an interview with a woman who loved Chick-fil-A’s sandwiches so much, she decked out her home’s decorations, even the clothes on her body, in Chick-fil-A’s ubiquitous black-and-white cows.
“You really can’t get that kind of endorsement or excitement about a brand in any other way,” Arne said.
ViTrue’s technology has attracted a long line of branded-product companies, from Pringles potato chips to VH1. But since ViTrue’s product is essentially an advertising vehicle, ViTrue needed better contacts in New York, the center of the advertising universe, Arne said. UGENmedia, founded by a former DoubleClick employee, has those connections. UGENmedia’s technologies are also used as applications on the social-networking sites Facebook and MySpace.
ViTrue has some heavy hitters supporting its efforts. Its investors include Turner Broadcasting, Comcast, Dace Ventures and General Catalyst Partners. The company also recently named former Coca-Cola Co. president Steven Heyer its vice chairman.
In addition to Arne and Hirsch, Morris Manning associates Scott Allen and Chris Maxwell also worked on the ViTrue deal. Silverberg Stonehill Goldsmith & Haber in New York was counsel to UGENmedia.