NSI buys CoAMS

NSI Marketing Services has purchased CoAMS, a firm based in Chicago primarily involved in trade promo outsourcing services.

NSI Marketing Services (NSI), the St. Louis based channel marketing services firm, that provides technology-enabled marketing administration, communication and research solutions, has acquired privately-held CoAMS, Inc. In announcing the acquisition, Mark Mantovani, President and Chief Executive Officer of NSI, called the event “pivotal” as it “brings together two established firms with long track records in providing first-class channel marketing services to world-class clients.”

NSI was formerly known as The National System. They have a variety of channel marketing services, to which CoAMS' administrative offerings would seem a good complement.

Recessions have mixed effects on trade promo outsourcing companies. Some companies that do administration internally will consider going outside in order to reduce headcount and overhead costs. Offsetting that, however, some existing clients will put on pressure to reduce fees, or even move to a competitor offering a lower price. Joining CoAMS' services to the wider offerings of someone like NSI might ameliorate some of the price-shopping clients do -- the wider the range of services you provide to a client, the harder it is for them to move.

I worked for CoAMS for a number of years, and I hope this change works out well for my friends there.

Update Sunday: Relative to the point about the effect of recessions on outsourcing companies, Mark Mantovani, CEO of NSI, told me in some emails we exchanged that both CoAMS and NSI had increased revenues in 2008, with NSI up 32%.