UBM Acquires Content Marketing Institute with CMI Events
There was big news in the content marketing industry this month, as UBM plc, a London-based global organizer of B2B events and marketing, acquired The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) for $17.6 Million plus performance bonuses.
The Content Marketing Institute is the foundation of the content marketing industry, launched by Joe Pulizzi, often nicknamed the Godfather of Content Marketing. Pulizzi and his team are pioneers in the industry, launching the Content Marketing Institute, which started as Junta42, a content matching company, in 2007. Nine years ago the term content marketing was relatively unknown, and due to the work of evangelists like CMI, it’s now one of the most widely used marketing terms today.
But what does this acquisition mean for the future of CMI and the content marketing industry? We reached out to both UBM and CMI to find out a little more.
The CMI Blog
As content marketing fans, everyone hopes that the CMI blog will remain what is is, a tremendous resource of insight, research, thought leadership, and actionable ideas from the industry’s top professionals. UBM has no plans to change that.
“We plan to continue delivering high-quality content and sharing best practices with the marketing community” said in a joint statement by Marco Pardi, Managing Director, Technology Group, UBM Americas and Stephanie Stahl, VP of Content Marketing, UBM Tech. “We believe in keeping conversations going and supporting the community year around – before, during, and after events – through research, educational content, and perspective.”
Pulizzi said that UBM will help support the CMI team to offer even more reach and resources, but goals for the blog will remain the same.
Content Marketing Events
Pardi and Stahl shared that the market is growing at a double-digit rate and UBM plans to only enhance that growth through the best practices and systems that they already have in place. They said, “CMI has done a wonderful job in cultivating the community at CMWorld which will remain the gathering place for this rapidly growing market for years to come.”
Pulizzi said, “Our belief was always that CMWorld could be a 10,000-person event at some point. I think UBM would like to see that as well. In five years, it would be nice to be closer to that number as the industry continues to grow.”
What It Means for the Industry
Pulizzi shared that UBM is extremely passionate about the industry and its future, which this acquisition clearly indicates. Both CMI and UBM agree that this is still just the dawn of content marketing and that so much education is still needed. But that only means an opportunity for organizations like CMI and content marketing agencies.
“All in all, even though we never needed it, UBM purchasing CMI does legitimize the industry to outsiders...that content marketing is a real discipline with real opportunity for marketers and brands,” said Pulizzi. “I've never been more excited than right now about the future of our industry.”
Debbie Williams
Debbie is the Chief Content Officer & Co-founder of SPROUT Content. She brings her passion for revealing the most unique plot lines of a brand story and eloquently capturing the spirit and emotion of brands through words to all SPROUT Content clients.