Gannett launches G/O Digital, the umbrella agency for its digital marketing services

G/O Digital brings together Gannett’s digital suite of offerings, including: Shoplocal, specialising in turnkey, local, digitised solutions across all platforms; BLiNQ, a proprietary platform that optimises social media planning and audience targeting; Key Ring, a mobile shopping app; DealChicken, a local daily deals site; and GannettLocal, an integrated digital marketing provider to SMBs in more than 100 Gannett markets.

"We are simply responding to the new retail reality. There are many ways to reach consumers and each one wants to be communicated with differently. We realized this is a challenge for marketers and we have the unique ability to get results through an integrated suite of local and national digital solutions," said Vikram Sharma, president and CEO of G/O Digital. "By combining G/O's resources, we are able to deliver winning formulas to our advertising partners that enable them to reach consumers across multiple platforms with measurable results."

Staples has been named the group’s launch brand, after it recently tasked Gannett with creating a marketing campaign that increased in-store foot traffic and sales in just 12 weeks.

Alison Corcoran, Staples senior vice president of marketing for North American Stores and Online said: "Gannett has a unique view on the evolution of digital and print and their insights have strengthened our relationship with our small business customers. This partnership provides the opportunity for Staples to get local at scale, as Gannett provides the technology to localise our messages for each market and speak to our customers across all platforms more effectively than ever."