Publicis Groupe announced Wednesday it acquired Captiv8, adding one other influencer marketing platform to its portfolio. Publicis acquired Influential back in July 2024.
As influencer marketing evolves from a cottage industry to a preferred and ever-growing channel, traditional agencies are buying influencer platforms to ensure they get a bit of the influencer pie.
As Publicis was snapping up Influential, Stagwell added each LEADERS and InfluencerMarketing.AI. Later, an influencer marketing and social media management platform acquired Mavely in January.
Dig deeper: The handiest influencer campaigns are built on fit, not fame
Captiv8 brings a large influencer network to Publicis Groupe. Captiv8 claims 15 million creators globally, including 95% of all influencers with 5,000 followers or more.
In addition to creators, Captiv8 also brings proprietary AI-powered technology and social listening technology.
However, what likely made Captiv8 a pretty acquisition goal was its social commerce suite. Captiv8 offers Branded Storefronts, which connect influencer, commerce and affiliate channels in a single platform.
In an announcement announcing the acquisition, Publicis Groupe described its strategy for Cativ8, Influential, and its own Epsilon identity and activation technology.
These three platforms will form the world’s largest creator network, an AI-powered influencer platform and a preferred social commerce engine. Publicis Groupe also sees the aptitude to deliver transparent, real-time, full-funnel measurement of the business impact of creator marketing across platforms and media channels.
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