Following 2014 Acquisition of US-Based MKTG INC, Network Framing Up Sports and Entertainment, Experiential and Lifestyle Capability Worldwide
Dentsu Aegis Network announces the formation of a ninth global network brand, MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014. The move further strengthens the network’s sports and entertainment, experiential and lifestyle marketing offering and continues its expansion around the globe.
In addition, Out-of-Home agency Posterscope’s experiential arm, psLIVE’s offices across Europe and Asia Pacific, South Africa’s Crimson Room, Australia/New Zealand’s Apollo Nation and leading US-based sports and entertainment consultancy Team Epic will be realigned as part of MKTG over the next 12 months.
Leveraging its collective experience, global network and resources, the realigned agency will provide clients with a truly integrated through-the-line service offering including sports and entertainment consulting, experiential marketing, sponsorship identification, negotiation and activation, hospitality, strategy, research and insights, custom measurement, digital and creative capabilities, content development, design and retail marketing.
“As a network, we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of our clients, to be responsive to the needs and desires of consumers and to remain pioneering in the evolution of our industry,” said Jerry Buhlmann, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network and Executive Officer of Dentsu Inc. “The tremendous growth and importance of lifestyle marketing made it clear that strategically it was time to unify our like-minded businesses as one single brand. We are completely committed to building out our lifestyle marketing offering and integrating the combined strength of these services to deliver on a far larger and broader scale.”
“Something that sets Dentsu Aegis Network apart is that we are constantly reevaluating our businesses and are willing to reorganise ourselves to best serve our clients; ultimately providing the best value we can,” said Annie Rickard, Global Brand President, Posterscope; Global Chairman, MKTG. “With this realignment, we can now provide a seamless offering across lifestyle, sports and entertainment for our clients and allow all of our agencies to benefit from this platform.”
“We are truly excited about this next chapter and the opportunity to work across the network to deliver unrivaled lifestyle marketing solutions for brands,” said Charlie Horsey, Global Brand President, MKTG, CEO MKTG USA. “The realignment will also greatly benefit our current long-standing client base and our employees who now have the ability to plug into resources and opportunities around the globe.”
Ashish Bhasin, chairman & CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network, chairman Posterscope and psLIVE – Asia Pacific said, “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG, which will make us the best lifestyle marketing solutions agency in India. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”
As the agencies transition towards operating as one global brand, MKTG will grow from 450 full time employees and 7,000 brand ambassadors in the United States, to nearly 1,000 full time employees in 14 countries, providing a truly global lifestyle marketing solution for clients. MKTG will be headquartered in New York City.