Informa Exhibitions’ Print and Media Group has acquired CloserStill’s mediaPro event for the media and marketing community.
 
The organiser will immediately integrate mediaPro into its Cross Media 2012 exhibition at the Business Design Centre from 3 to 4 September.  The purchase includes brand assets and intellectual property but doesn’t include any staff. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
Informa Exhibitions marketing director Nick Craig Waller said mediaPro was a well-known event brand and was delighted to be able to integrate it into his own portfolio.
 
“The agency, marketing, publishing and creative visitor audiences that have gravitated to mediaPro since its launch will find all the guidance and inspiration they need at Cross Media 2012,” he said. “It’s a perfect fit.”
 
MediaPro was launched by CloserStill four years ago and attracted 4,500 visitors in 2011. It was due to be held alongside Marketing Without Frontiers at Olympia in London from 23 to 24 October. The event was aimed at media professionals and covered the multichannel marketing industry.
 
Craig Waller said the purchase also reflected Informa’s commitment to evolving its Ipex 2014 event to include the contemporary print value chain. Ipex is a quadrennial exhibition focused on the complete print production cycle and will take over all of Excel London’s 100,000sqm under an exclusive tenancy agreement from 26 March to 2 April 2014.
 
“We fully recognise marketers and publishers play a critical role in creating, planning and delivering effective multi-channel campaigns with print at its core,” Craig Waller continued. “With that in mind, Ipex 2014 will have a strong focus on helping media professionals and print service providers collaborate more closely to deliver an optimum ROI for the brand owner.”
 
Informa Print and Media group director Trevor Crawford added that mediaPro reflected its ongoing commitment to the print and media sector. He pointed out nearly 400,000 people work in London’s £32bn creative industry and generate 16 per cent of the city’s gross value, making it the capital’s second-largest sector.
 
“As it hosts a large number of Europe’s biggest advertisers and world-leading digital agencies, Ipex 2014 is set to attract a wider audience of print specifiers than ever before,” Crawford said.
 
Got a story for Exhibition News? Email us: exhibitionnews@mashmedia.net