Spot Runner Acquires GlobeShooter

Amid talk of Spot Runner potentially being acquired by one of its investors, WPP, the company has done some acquiring of its own: a production company of filmmakers called “GlobeShooter.” According to the press release I received:

Spot Runner, the first Internet-based ad agency, announced today that it has acquired GlobeShooter, a network of more than 1,200 independent filmmakers, professional videographers, photographers, producers and production companies throughout the U.S. The services of GlobeShooter, which will be renamed the Spot Runner Production Network, will significantly expand the company’s ability to offer highly customized ads for both TV and the Internet. The network will become part of Spot Runner’s existing and future products aimed at local, regional and national businesses, spanning television and online media.

The Spot Runner Production Network gives the company the capability to quickly deploy a local filmmaker to capture on-site video footage of our clients’ businesses—such as images of their storefronts, customer testimonials, employees at work, product demonstrations and local landmarks. This footage will be incorporated into ads from Spot Runner’s library to produce personalized, relevant, high quality local TV and online ads at an affordable price point.

According to a classified ad I found online soliciting filmmakers for the GlobeShooter network:

GlobeShooter is breaking new ground for filmmakers. We’re a new Hollywood production company being set up to democratize the impervious world of Hollywood production. Our production network is exploding and we’re looking for student filmmakers to sign for our local video advertising projects all over the country. We are run by top commercial producers and our model is to manage and guide disparate filmmakers across the US and lead them into the world of professional video advertising. We are in the process of signing some large advertising deals and signed filmmakers will be alerted when these occur in your local area. Please go to our site and upload/embed a few examples of your best work. We will use these clips to determine the type of work to offer you. Please only videographers and filmmakers apply. We do not accept slide shows as examples of video, sorry.

A scalable production capability had emerged of late as a hole in Spot Runner’s offering, as other providers such as TurnHere, Denver Multimedia, Spotzer, Digital Media Communications, among others, have grown or arisen to offer customized production capabilities to yellow pages, newspapers, verticals and others. The market also seems to be demanding custom production rather than the impressive and professional but more “generic” spots that Spot Runner was offering to SMBs.

Spot Runner was one of the first (or perhaps the first in early 2006) to offer affordable video to the SMB market (and nationals wanting to localize) but it was for cable TV, not the Internet. However, the Internet is starting to equal TV as a critical market for video advertising. Consequently, this is a smart acquisition by Spot Runner (deal terms not disclosed) and will support a new, more scalable customized production capability and their ability to move more quickly into online video, where there is now a ton of competition.

Affordable, scalable video production will eventually be viewed as a strategic asset for the local online market and beyond and some of these competitors will be acquired. It’s very much like the yellow pages’ acquisition of local SEM firms. Spot Runner, with its $300 million valuation is one of the pricier options but it’s definitely a target.

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Online video advertising production is something that Comcast should probably be doing (as well as other things in local). The company does it for spot cable but at higher cost. This is an area where Comcast could quickly become competitive (or buy one of these competitors) but the internal turmoil at the company and related distractions may be obscuring a range of opportunities in local.

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