Advertising agency AAC and online ticketing and events solution company Premier Tickets Ltd have merged.

Based at AAC’s offices at 29 Front Street, the combined AAC and Ptix is now a full-service advertising agency and digital marketing company.

The combined company has a team of 12 staff provides services in communications strategy, creative design, graphic design, web development and hosting, e-commerce, event and conference management, digital marketing and management, and all of the Ptix ticketing portal services.

It also offers an extensive range of print services that includes in-house and on-demand printing.

AAC is now owned by Premier Tickets. AAC and Ptix will continue operating under their brand names. They are part of Celeste Group of Companies, which also includes IT provider Fireminds and Innovation House.

The organisation said the added capabilities of the 60-plus staff at Fireminds provide enterprise grade web development and hosting solutions for small to large companies.

Rhona Emmerson, outgoing owner of AAC, said: “I’m thrilled to see the next generation take over AAC to build on the 30-plus years of an amazing track record that we’ve established.

“Our clients include international brands, plus local powerhouses who depend on AAC for all of their marketing and communications needs. The AAC team will stay as they are to continue focusing on the strong and enduring relationships that we have built with our clients under the direction of the new owner.”

Michael Branco, Ptix owner, said: “We are excited to have AAC join our family of companies and combine with our Ptix team to bring together the very best of traditional advertising with the digital innovation of Ptix. Over the past nine years, Ptix has grown to be the dominant ticketing and event company and we want to offer our customers even more options through AAC.”

Mr Branco said he will leave the day-to-day running of AAC and Ptix to the senior management team, which includes Peter Hebberd, Judy Benevides, Donna Mingledorff and Sandy Smith. Mr Branco will focus on his role as chief executive officer at Fireminds.

He said: “Having AAC in the group brings a creative core to everything we do at Fireminds and Ptix, providing our customers with even better user experience (UX) designs and an engine for innovation.

“Together, AAC, Ptix and Fireminds have a current staff complement of 120 talented people, which continues to expand as we welcome Yvonne DeCosta to the AAC team in September, bringing with her many years of experience in marketing strategy and execution.”

Within the Ptix division the software team have been working to expand the platform, providing clients with branded ticketing portals as Ptix did for the 35th America’s Cup.

Ptix recently launched a membership portal service with its customer Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, allowing organisations to have more control over their membership base, fundraising efforts and events.

Ptix has also improved its event organiser tools, the company said, to include a “promoter panel” for tracking all sales, with options to pay out proceeds daily, weekly or at the end of the event, enabling event organisers to optimise cash flows.

Sandy Smith, senior account director at AAC, said: “I’m excited to see AAC evolve into a creative and digital powerhouse. Our enhanced capabilities enable us to deliver stronger integrated marketing programmes and innovative solutions. We look forward to putting these to work for our clients.”

• AAC can be reached on 441-295-2626, info@aac.bm or www.aac.bm. The Ptix team can be reached on 441-278-1500, info@ptix.bm or www.ptix.bm