- Publicis Groupe is acquiring the influencer marketing platform Captiv8, in accordance with a press release. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
- Captiv8 wields a network of 15 million creators, representing about 95% of influencers with over 5,000 followers globally, as well as proprietary technology to assist brands manage functions including social commerce, social listening and measurement.
- Publicis will wed Captiv8’s capabilities with those of Influential, which the agency acquired last 12 months, enhancing each through its data-marketing arm Epsilon. The group’s moves to shore up influencer marketing know-how follow clients shifting more budgets to social media and the creator economy.
Publicis strengthens its foothold in the important thing influencer marketing space with Captiv8, which makes a speciality of talent management, measurement and social commerce, with the latter service area including branded storefronts and TikTok Shop partnerships. The acquisition complements one the ad-holding group made last 12 months for Influential, a platform focused on client services, such as sourcing creators for brands via a marketplace and lengthening the reach and impact of social media campaigns.
Influential on the time was the biggest influencer marketing platform by revenue while Captiv8 was billed on this week’s announcement as the world’s “largest influencer technology marketing platform.” The Influential purchase was valued at around $500 million while Captiv8’s price tag is pegged at $150 million, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source conversant in the deal terms.
Captiv8 operates in 120 countries and processes over 2.5 billion social posts annually. Captiv8 can be positioned under the Publicis Connected Media unit and integrated into Influential. Both platforms boast know-how in artificial intelligence, a technology Publicis desires to further soup up through Epsilon’s identity graph.
Taken together, the 2 firms give Publicis the advantage of scale and end-to-end capabilities in a category where more brands are shifting their dollars amid a decline in traditional media.
“This platform is a one-stop-shop for our clients’ influencer marketing initiatives,” said Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun in a press release. “With what’s now the biggest influencer community, underpinned by probably the most advanced tech platform, we will ignite earned-first programs on behalf of brands, to supercharge campaigns with authentic virality and connect on to commerce.”
In an example of the momentum behind influencer marketing, Unilever recently stated it intends to allocate half of its marketing budget to social media, up from 30%, while increasing its work with creators 20-fold. Unilever has utilized Captiv8’s solutions, as have blue-chip marketers like Kraft Heinz, American Express and the NBA.
Publicis earlier this 12 months acquired identity solutions firm Lotame to expand Epsilon, bringing its reach to almost 4 billion unique consumer profiles all over the world, or about 91% of internet-connected adults. The firm stays on a dealmaking hot streak, making use of its war chest as it stays the top-performing ad-holding group in a largely beleaguered agency sector. The company saw organic revenue, a crucial measure of agency health, increase 4.9% 12 months over 12 months in Q1, though, like rivals, it has acknowledged that tariffs could dent client spending.
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