Transaction strengthens Hammock’s strategic focus on delivering innovative content marketing solutions for industry-leading clients

Nashville, TN (April 27, 2022) – Hammock Inc, a leading provider of content marketing solutions for businesses and association organizations across the U.S., announced today the completion of its management buyout.

The buyout was led by John Lavey, who has been employed at Hammock since 1996, most recently as president and chief operating officer. Exiting founder and CEO Rex Hammock formed the company in 1991. The transaction represents the culmination of an ownership and management succession plan that was developed over many years.

The new ownership structure will completely align the executive management team’s strategic vision with the market’s need for effective and innovative content market solutions leveraged across a rapidly evolving media landscape.

“Rex Hammock started this business 31 years ago and was a pioneer in the U.S. at building out what we know today as content marketing,” Lavey said. “Rex saw the opportunity for brands to go direct to customers, initially with print magazines, and today, with a whole host of digital media assets, to build loyalty, support branding and drive leads.

“Hammock has become a unique publishing platform that delivers valuable solutions to a marquee client base. Now, with 100% ownership by a committed management team, Hammock has a renewed energy to continue developing the most effective and powerful content marketing solutions to help our clients succeed and grow.”

Hammock is investing in new talent acquisition to provide clients with the latest needs in media creation and the measurement of ROI around investments in content marketing.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

John Lavey and management were represented in the transaction by Silvermark Partners LLC as financial advisor and Hughey Business Law, PLLC as counsel. Rex Hammock was represented by Wood Stabell Law Group, PLLC as counsel.

 

 

 

By Jeff Walter, Editor and Writer

For most of us, 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year—but especially for those serving in the healthcare professions. So we at Hammock recently sponsored a “Thank You, Healthcare Heroes” giveaway, asking clients, colleagues and friends to nominate someone working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to receive a free hammock.

It was just a small but symbolic way for us to honor a group of people who selflessly put their lives on the line every day to provide essential care for their community, and who well deserve a rest. We selected three winners whose stories particularly inspired us.

By Chris Edwards

We’ve all heard about the importance of nonverbal communication, with some experts claiming that as much as 93% of communication is nonverbal in nature.

This idea of merging nonverbal communication with an excellent experience became real for me more than 20 years ago when I was selling shoes at Nordstrom to pay for college. The job required sharp attention to detail: thinking through how to approach a customer, thoughtfully suggesting shoes for them, and following through on their needs and wants. The experience went well beyond talking about a shoe—every interaction with the customer sent a message, positive or negative, to them.

There’s one thing all midterm election voters can agree on: We’re glad it’s over. But whenever there’s a massive investment in marketing and advertising a product (or, in this case, a candidate), those of us who are healthcare marketers need to pause and ask, “Is there a lesson we can learn here?”

During the hectic fourth quarter of each year, we help companies and organizations with those must-do content and media projects they need to deliver by year’s end. For the last 25 years, we’ve developed processes and resources that enable us to complete major projects by January 1 if we begin by November 1. Here’s how.

There’s only one expert who can determine success of the media and content you create for your customers and prospects.

That expert is not found in your C-suite or the departments that oversee marketing, communications, sales or technology. Nor is that expert a consultant, agency, thought leader, keynote speaker, guru or sender of Idea emails.

“All businesses are media businesses.”

That axiom sure sounds believable in 2017. Being a media company means you have the ability to create and distribute your message directly to any audience, without having to pay a toll to intermediaries.

In an Idea Email sent in 2013, we suggested that a möobius strip, or infinity loop, is the best graphical representation of the customer journey, or the “customer life cycle.” We like the möobius metaphor because it demonstrates there are two distinct states of being a customer:

By Rex Hammock
Founder and CEO

About 20 years ago, a Hammock editor made a witty observation that instantly became one of our company’s long-running inside jokes. During a conversation about some wonkish technology trend, the staffer said with a great deal of faux seriousness, “I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I predict that computers will keep getting smaller, and the internet will keep getting faster.” In many subsequent tech discussions, we ask that “futurist,” now the company’s president and COO, to remind us of his tongue-in-cheek prediction.

Funny thing, he was right.

 

In two days, leadership of the world’s most powerful economy and military will transition from one president to another. Since the Civil War, this tradition of transition has been marked by peacefulness, but not always without acrimony. We have changed presidencies in the midst of great philosophical differences, world wars, economic crises and disagreements over the direction and policies of the nation.