Imaginet
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Imaginet LLC was founded in 1991, as a
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and Apple Computer publishing Value Added Reseller. Its initial focus on
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was retooled by 1994 to become an early provider of web services, a move that attracted some big-name companies, including 3M,
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, Pillsbury, and
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. In 1997, Imaginet was sold to the 3M spinoff, Imation, but the formal corporate culture and Imaginet's decidedly casual one were not a good fit. Within 18 months, the company turned private again. To become a private company, Founders
Scott Litman Scott Litman (November 18, 1966) is a Minnesota entrepreneur, co-founder of The Minnesota Cup and previous CEO and co-founder of Imaginet. Today, he serves as the co-founder and managing partner of Minneapolis-based Magnet 360. Career In 1998, Li ...
and Dan Mallin partnered with Skip Gage to acquire the company from Imation and spin it out as a private entity. Along the way, Imaginet acquired the assets of the Gage Interactive Marketing Group. As a private company, Imaginet, LLC flourished in 1999 and 2000, rapidly growing into a regional leader in eServices. The focus of the business was the delivery of web applications that provided personalized and relevant communication to their audiences. Customers included the St. Paul Companies, RBC Dain Rauscher, Cargill, Goodyear, Medtronic, United Health, Lawson Software, Express-Scripts, and
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. The business was sold once again in the final days of 2000 to
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, where it became a part of
J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...
(JWT), one of the world's oldest and largest traditional
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. Post sale, Imagnet, took over the JWT owned entity Cool Fire Interactive and in a move that saved many jobs as the dot com bubble burst that year, replaced Cool Fire's staff with Imaginet employees. Imaginet was rebranded into the RMG Connect international network under JWT. In January 2010, RMG Connect was dissolved and merged with JWT. The office is now known as JWT Minneapolis.


References

{{reflist 1991 establishments in California 2010 disestablishments in California American companies established in 1991 American companies disestablished in 2010 Computer companies disestablished in 2010 Business services companies disestablished in 2010 Computer companies established in 1991 Defunct computer companies based in California Defunct computer companies of the United States Marketing companies established in 1991