WeWork, a global network of shared workspace designers and providers announced on Tuesday that they would be buying digital marketing company Conductor. This acquisition is a direct reflection of WeWork’s desires to push beyond real estate. The office-space company has strived to bring new tools and services to their members and is focused on tailoring their marketing efforts to match the needs of their buyers.
Corporate approaches to content marketing are constantly changing and WeWork is banking on Conductor to help them deliver high quality content to existing and prospective members so that they can put old ad-serving models to bed. This team-up also gives WeWork access to Conductor’s growing list of high profile clients including, CitiBank, Jet.com, CVS, and Salesforce.
Conductor has worked closely with WeWork since 2016, helping the office space seller improve their digital marketing strategies and online presence. The connections don’t end there: WeWork CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann and Conductor CEO Seth Besmertnik both attended Baruch College and left early to become entrepreneurs.
Besmertnik states in a blog post,
“Together, Conductor and WeWork share a vision to bring a human-driven focus to the trillion dollar marketing category. We want to inspire and contribute to the cultural revolution happening across modern companies and put people – our coworkers, our customers, our communities – first.”
Conductor has made it clear that they will continue to operate autonomously. In their blog post, they reassured their customers that the company will have the same team, the same purpose, and the same products. Conductor has stated that although their companies are vastly different, they have similar goals, values, and missions and they both strive to deliver great ‘human-driven’ content and services to their customers.
Employees at Conductor have been offered the same compensation for the same jobs and that vested share options bought in the deal will be converted into WeWork shares. Conductor CEO Seth Besmertnik will remain in his same role and will report to WeWork President and Chief Financial Officer Artie Minson.
Responses to the acquisition have been favorable on both sides and Besmertnik is looking forward to the future of their new partnership. He states,
“Combining forces with WeWork is a win for everyone in our ecosystem. We will have greater access to resources (talent, capital, and relationships). We will build even better technology and services for enterprise marketers.
We will accelerate our product roadmap and goals. Our teams couldn’t be more committed and excited. This is not an exit — it’s an entrance.”
Financial terms were not disclosed. For more information, check out WeWork’s blog post on the acquisition.
