Rock Content has announced its first acquisition to establish itself as one of the world’s largest Content Marketing companies. iClips, a pioneer software company for agency project management, is now part of the Brazilian company portfolio.
The Rock Content mergers and acquisitions strategy is part of a natural extension plan for the organization’s solutions.
The goal is to help agencies, which are an essential part of the communication market, to scale their deliveries and provide better experiences for themselves and their clients.
The acquisition seeks to consolidate Rock Content as a leader in the Content Marketing market
Rock Content is already the largest Content Marketing organization in Latin America. With the mission of enabling growth opportunities for other companies, this initial phase of expansion aligns with Rock’s strategy of fundraising.
The company, owned by Diego Gomes, Vitor Peçanha, and Edmar Ferreira, already holds clients outside Brazil and is paving the way for international growth.
The startup has been efficient in capital management since its first steps and is now preparing to accelerate its growth in both organic and inorganic ways.
With an office in Guadalajara, Rock Content serves customers not only from Mexico but also from Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Portugal, among others.
By the end of 2020, the goal is to double iClips’ participation in the agency management and collaboration systems market. All agencies that were not yet with Rock Content will have access to a platform that meets their demands.
“Now we are all a single company, working together to help agencies scale and provide better experiences for them and their customers. We are together on a journey to create a modern, collaborative platform and enable the growth of marketing professionals, agencies, and brands”, states Diego Gomes, CEO of Rock Content.
iClip’s expertise with agencies
From Juiz de Fora, a city in southwestern Brazil, iClips was founded in 2001 and, since then, has grown quickly and sustainably. The software that runs on the cloud offers customized workflows that fit both simple and complex creative processes.
A good example is iJob, a platform feature that allows agencies to invite advertisers to collaborate on creative projects.
To further benefit agencies, iClips offers a method specifically designed for them. The OGO Methodology (Organization, Management, and Optimization) aims to make agencies more efficient in their operations and, consequently, more lucrative.
“We have always believed in Brazilian advertising and in the potential to improve their management and productivity. After 18 years of many achievements, we feel that there is still a long way to go. Our goal now is to revolutionize the marketing and advertising market,” says José Quintella, CEO and founder of iClips.
iClips has a contract with over 1,000 agencies, some of them international, and has built an internal team of approximately 50 employees.
In the last years, the company has grown about 50% annually and maintains high retention rates and NPS. Rock Content’s office in Mexico will further improve the software presence in Latin American countries.
iClips features a free version, built into the Rock Content Talent Network
After the merger, iClips also released its freemium version. Once offered in 4 plans — Professional, Business, Corporate, and Enterprise — the software can now benefit small businesses, free of charge.
Companies with up to 5 employees will be able to use iClips for an unlimited time. Free use was previously restricted to only 7 days in a trial version.
This change strengthens the mission of allowing growth possibilities that both of the companies share. The free version is already available for everyone who wants to enjoy the platform.
In addition, the Rock Content Talent Network will also be available in the software. The freelancers base, which counts with more than 80 thousand people, will work in a marketplace logic.
Agencies will be able to connect with already available talents and put them in their projects. This way, it’s possible to increase productivity while maintaining the quality that customers expect.
Rock Content’s network will support agencies that don’t yet work with high-quality freelance professionals.
This does not prevent companies from inviting new names to integrate their teams. The goal is to make these projects more flexible so that they can meet any customer needs.
“The union of iClips with Rock will enable the creation of a complete offer for advertising and management marketing. It’ll be possible to offer services in an integrated way, focusing on agencies’ growth. Our goal is to create mechanisms that stimulate collaboration between agency, client, and external collaborators”, adds Quintella.
IPO on the horizon
Among the steps that the company should take to become one of the biggest names in worldwide Content Marketing, is going public.
Rock Content is already thinking about a future initial public offering and is taking actions for this to become a reality, despite knowing that there is still a long way to go.
The development of new products, such as Stage and other research and development initiatives, seeks to position the company as a platform for the whole Digital Marketing scenario.
“We made this decision to join forces because we believe that together we can take our teams, incredible technologies, and resources to offer better and broader solutions to the Digital Marketing ecosystem,” Diego concludes.
Rock Content maintains offices in the cities of Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Guadalajara, and now Juiz de Fora.
