Brand strategy consultancy Blackjet has acquired shopper marketing firm Spider Marketing.

Spider will add shopper marketing and promotional expertise to Blackjet’s brand strategy, design, digital storytelling and production capabilities in the deal.

Clients will now be able to tap into Spider’s experience to support their sales activation efforts across retail channels. They will gain the ability to extend campaigns through to the point of purchase, providing retailers with impactful content, informed by data. Similarly, Spider’s clients will have access to Blackjet’s pool of strategic, creative and production expertise.

“Understanding shopper behaviour is intriguing to our clients – not only at POS, but pre- and post-purchase as well,” says Blackjet CEO Rob Galletta (above, right). “Shopper marketing, as I understand it, has evolved to impacting the full customer journey [and] shopper insights provide us with a deeper understanding of consumers on their path to purchase.”

Galletta tells strategy the courtship and agreement took all of 2022 year, and that Spider was the first and only shopper agency it looked at. Blackjet, Galletta explains, was actively looking to acquire agencies and technology companies that would complement its offerings and deliver on its vision of a decentralized consultancy offering services that modern marketers demand, absent the trappings of a “full-service” operating model.

“We are actively pursuing new business opportunities together and expect to have new work to share mid-2023,” Galletta says.

Last fall, Blackjet announced several additions to its senior leadership team. The Spider acquisition caps a record 12 month growth period for Blackjet during which the consultancy has added Onlia Insurance, Gay Lea Foods, Tourism Japan and The University of British Columbia to the client roster.

Spider will add to that list with longstanding clients including Kruger Products (Cashmere, Scotties, SpongeTowels and its Kruger Big Assist program), Canadian Tire, Andrew Peller and Bimbo Canada.

Spider Marketing is led by founder and president, Rico DiGiovanni who will continue to head Spider as a division of Blackjet.