In November, our in-depth look at the performance of Merkle, Omni, Acxiom and Epsilon revealed their importance to their holding company parents, which are increasingly promoting the way these data units glue the rest of their products and services together.
Holding companies deepen data investmentsįor most of the holding companies, data, digital transformation and digital media were the major drivers of growth this year. And at the same time, it posted enviable growth figures, revising its own profit predictions upwards twice while doubling its client base. Green Square’s Tony Walford delved into the details of Sorrell’s S4 evolution for us in August. That move brought Media.Monks, the network’s original acquisition, right to the fore while promoting a ’modular’ framework for each of its sister agencies, allowing them to promote their place within the network while keeping their entrepreneurial spirits going – or in plain English, having their cake and eating it. It acquired a string of new agencies and bolstered its presence in the rapidly growing Latin American markets unveiled its tech services offering and debuted a major, company-wide rebrand.
While the rising tide of digital media spend lifted just about every boat going, Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital has had a particularly strong year. ”The marketplace is ripe for this kind of opportunity.” ”We aim to dislodge some of that $60bn that’s sitting over there in the majors, because they’re the people that most clients love to hate,” he told us in our September interview. And Stagwell Group’s founder Mark Penn looked to declare his intentions to compete more fiercely with incumbents with a showy market closing ceremony at the Nasdaq in New York. When we interviewed Dimi Albers, Dept’s chief exec a couple of weeks ago, he explained how it hoped to keep its collegiate culture alive as it expanded.īritish group MSQ Partners has also seen significant expansion through acquisitions this year, as it became biggest indie in the UK and simultaneously set its sights on the States. The latter acquired digital marketing agency Feed just last week and launched its own NFT practice in November in four years it has gone from a staff of 100 to 2,000. Many of the most interesting buys have come from the agency groups looking to challenge the dominance of the big six, such as Stagwell, S4, MSQ and Dept.
The last year has seen plenty of activity on the M&A front. Challenger agency groups gain taste for acquisition Meanwhile, agency staff in the UK have looked to organize a more collective approach to the industry’s working woes, forming the first trade union for the ad business. While small agencies such as Here Be Dragons sought to retain junior employees with schemes like backing their side hustles and paying for art gallery passes, networks such as Publicis began offering employees the chance to work abroad for six weeks a year (a policy announced with a lavish trip through cinematic history).