The R2C Group is the name for a group of related companies in the advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 industry. It comprises Respond2 and Cmedia.

History

In 1998 Michelle Cardinal founded direct response media company Cmedia, LLC in Portland Oregon, specializing in TV media. A year later her husband Tim O'Leary formed Respond2 - a direct response creative and production company specializing in TV & Online marketing. The two ran those companies separately until 2001 - when they merged them into "Respond2 Communications". A few years after that, the name was changed to R2C Group, to properly encompass both companies in "Respond2 & Cmedia." The company is co-run by both Cardinal and O'Leary, each running their areas of respective expertise (Cardinal in Media and O'Leary in creative/production). The R2Cgroup has acquired by private equity company Lake Capitol in 2001. The R2C group has acquired a few companies including Production West, a TV production company in Billings Montana, ATC Media Services, media buying company in Exton, PA Chautauqua Communications, an Online media agency in San Francisco, and MMSI a TV media buying company in Warwick, RI.

Cardinal and O'Leary were featured in an article in Inc. Magazine; "Entrepreneurs We Love" highlighting their co-running of a successful business as husband and wife, alongside household names such as Richard Branson and Martha Stewart.

Cmedia continues to operate as a direct response media company, headed by CEO Michelle Cardinal. http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20060719005563/en Cmedia now one of the largest buyers of DRTV media in the country, it also engages in research and planning, buying, and managing direct response television, print, radio, and Web programs. In other words, they buy media on TV-Cable-Radio stations and Online for advertisers. Cmedia also provides turnkey operations set-up and management, tracking and reporting, strategic consulting, back-end management and offer construction, and financial modeling. Cmedia offers corresponding direct media services, including online, radio, print, and direct mail, as well as campaign management in various categories, such as technology, financial services, education, fitness, beauty, house wares, and health care. The company was founded in 1998 by Michelle Cardinal and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 with offices in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

Respond2 also continues to operate as the creative production arm of R2Cgrop, headed by O'Leary, specializing in TV and online advertising. Respond2 is the largest producer of direct response TV advertising in the country and the recipient of many industry accolades.

In 2007, the company was acquired in private equity buyout led by Nautic Partners

Nautic Partners

Nautic Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle market companies across a range of industries.The firm, which is based in Providence, Rhode Island, was founded in 1986 as Fleet Equity Partners, a subsidiary of Fleet Bank. Initially, Fleet Equity Partners...

.

External links

• Company website
• Respond2 CMedia on Hoover's