- Omnicom is aligning cultural insights consultancy Sparks & Honey closer to Omnicom Media Group (OMG) amid a push to shore up the network’s Omni data-driven platform, Marketing Dive has learned. MediaPost earlier reported changes impacting the shop.
- A key driver of the choice is Omnicom’s recently closed whopper deal for Flywheel Digital, per MediaPost. The goal is to wed Flywheel’s specialty in e-commerce with the cultural know-how of Q, Sparks & Honey’s artificial intelligence-powered solution.
- The move intends to advance Omni’s positioning as a data-marketing powerhouse. Flywheel, Omnicom’s largest acquisition so far, has grow to be a spotlight for the group and exists as a standalone business unit.
Omnicom is making big changes at Sparks & Honey because the race for agencies to face up sophisticated, streamlined data operations heats up. While the consultancy has previously collaborated with OMG on client projects, it’s now fully aligned in partnership with the media division. The Sparks & Honey brand will live on with the transition, though a few of its practices are winding down. It was not immediately clear whether layoffs are involved.
Omnicom has touted Omni because the “most comprehensive data set within the industry” with the addition of Flywheel to the roster, a boastful claim against rivals that oversee sprawling data-driven marketing offerings of their very own. Investors are watching the $835 million deal closely because it is a key piece of the agency’s bets on precision marketing, which have helped grow revenue as advertisers contend with signal loss like cookie deprecation.
MediaPost’s reporting indicates that the ad-holding giant is seeking to pair Flywheel’s commerce-oriented insights with the culturally focused ones of Q. Sparks & Honey’s solution analyzes trends from across over 140 countries and 16 languages, in keeping with Sparks & Honey’s website. It examines every part from online fan subcultures to “slower moving content” within the legal, academic and patent worlds. The AI-powered tool, which rolled out publicly in 2017, was recently integrated with Omni and can proceed to be enhanced through the OMG relationship.
Founded in 2012, Sparks & Honey is valued by marketers for its regular cultural briefings and research on pressing topics, including ethical data use. Several recent virtual events have been canceled, per the firm’s LinkedIn page, and its Cultural Briefings are being sunset. Omni will use generative AI to digest a decade of past Cultural Briefings and leverage the insights for intelligence reports tailored to specific business categories that will probably be updated over time.
Omnicom grew revenue 5.4% year-over-year in Q1 to $3.63 billion. Organic revenue, a vital measure of business health, was up 4% YoY, and the corporate raised its full-year outlook. Executives said Flywheel contributed to the strong performance, though they didn’t break out standalone figures for the segment.
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