The Gotcha Group, Signal Campus and Kaleidoscope YFM Merge to Form Gotcha Media Holdings
CHARLESTON, SC (PRWEB) January 24, 2017 -- The Gotcha Group, a collegiate ride and bike share company based out of Charleston, SC, has merged with two other collegiate marketing firms: Signal Campus and Kaleidoscope YFM. The new entity – Gotcha Media Holdings – brings to market real-life, real-time brand engagement through sustainable transportation, targeted media, and trusted community influencers.
Gotcha Media Holdings now owns advertising space and delivers brand access on collegiate campuses across the United States. The combination of media platforms – including branded Gotcha Rides and Gotcha Bikes, sponsorships and targeted sampling programs – brings exclusive, integrated opportunities to advertisers.
In addition to its collegiate focus, the company maintains proprietary networks that link brands with youth and family audiences through community-based education and cause marketing campaigns, while also providing unique solutions for event-based experiential marketers.
Gotcha Media Holdings combines the proven strengths of three established, private firms:
- Sean Flood founded the Gotcha Group in 2009, with the goal of bringing sustainable, reliable and free transportation to college campuses as Gotcha Rides. Since then, Gotcha Ride has expanded to events and tours, and Gotcha Bike provides bike share programs at 12 collegiate campuses. It was also named the official bike share operator for Charleston, SC.
- Mindelle Ziff founded Charleston-based Kaleidoscope YFM in 1995. The youth, family and college-focused marketing firm is a national leader in building relationships and brand advocacy among youth, moms and Millennials for Fortune 500 brands.
- Signal Campus was long known for innovating the use of out-of-home platforms for collegiate audiences. They bring to the new entity a collection of newsstands, information kiosks and wall-mounted display panels on 100+ campuses across the US.
“Merging Gotcha Group with such respected firms as Signal and Kaleidoscope YFM gives us a company with turn key collegiate and experiential marketing solutions that connect consumers to brands, and campus decision makers to important revenue opportunities,” said Flood, who is CEO of the company (Ziff is President and Chief Marketing Officer and Signal Campus’s Ryan Leach is CFO/Chief Strategic Officer). “The collegiate landscape can be complex, and we’re here to help brands and campuses sail smoothly to success.”
Ziff, who has been in the youth, family and collegiate marketing field for over 20 years, said: “We’re proud that this merger combines unique, exclusive marketing solutions that both enhance the campus experience and strategically engage students and surrounding communities.”
As part of the transaction, Gotcha Media Holdings received an equity infusion from MSouth Equity Partners II, L.P., a private equity firm based in Atlanta, GA. MSouth, with approximately $1.3 billion of committed capital under management, makes investments in high-growth companies based primarily in the Southeast.
Barry Boniface, an MSouth Partner, said of the transaction, “The combination of Gotcha, Signal Campus and Kaleidoscope YFM creates a truly unique and dynamic platform with extensive reach and a large footprint within the attractive collegiate and experiential marketing industries. We are extremely excited to partner with this talented management team and look forward to providing significant capital to help support Gotcha Media’s robust growth plans.”
Gotcha Media Holdings serves clients from offices in Charleston, SC, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Kerry Welch, Touchpoint Communications, http://www.gotchabike.com/, +1 (808) 429-0548, [email protected]
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