Dentsu Aegis Network acquires Novus, merges it with John Brown Media
Dentsu Aegis Network announced the acquisition of Novus Group, an independent content agency in Singapore.
Dentsu Aegis Network acquires Novus
Novus will be merged with John Brown Media post acquisition and rebranded as John Brown Novus, working in tandem with iProspect.
This follows the rebranding of Dentsu Media to dentsu X.
Founded in 2009, Novus is a multi-platform content and brand-publishing agency headquartered in Singapore with fully integrated editorial, design and digital teams of more than 30 staff.
“Content marketing is a fast growing segment and is moving towards the centre of the marketing services spectrum. As consumers have increasing means of avoiding advertising, content is becoming an increasingly differentiating segment of marketing services and is vital in enabling marketers to get their messages to consumers,” said Nick Waters, chief executive officer, Detsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific.
“Novus is a great fit with John Brown Media with strong complementary sector expertise. They have a solid core team of talent as well as a reputable management team. Novus follows a set up similar to our model which features end-to-end content services, presenting a natural alignment with our ambition to scale content marketing in the region and lead in this space,” said Andrew Hirsch, Global chief executive officer, John Brown.
Simon Cholmeley, chief executive officer and Marie Lyte, chief operations officer and chief financial officer from Novus will be joining the leadership team as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of John Brown Novus respectively. Both will report to Rob Hughes, chief executive offier, Dentsu Aegis Network North Asia directly. The duo will also be joined by Lucy Dryburgh, John Brown media’s existing managing director.
“We have seen a dramatic increase in demand for high quality content services across the region over the past couple of years. Novus needed to find a partner with a strong global network who could offer us the infrastructure, expertise and resources to allow us to expand our footprint within the region. John Brown Media is one of the world’s largest content agencies and joining forces represents a significant opportunity to develop the business further, not only to better service our existing clients but to gain exposure to new brands and provide our teams with a strong framework for world-class collaboration, skills development and career options,” said Cholmeley.