Poke deal: Publicis acquires a fine reputation and client book, but what's in it for Poke?

Last week he pulled off another amazing coup – by snapping up London-based Poke, one of the best digital indies in the UK. The amount paid has not been disclosed, but Poke’s turnover was up 9 per cent last year to £6.4m and profits were up 60 per cent to £600,000 – a good growth story. (As an aside, Poke New York was the subject of an MBO earlier this year, and is operating as a new entity, Makeable, and is entirely unaffected by this deal.)

Another good reason to acquire Poke is its reputation and client book. The key relationship for Publicis is probably Everything Everywhere (Poke has been working with it since the days of Orange), but the agency has done some great work for the BBC, Mulberry and Ted. Clients like those, and work of the quality of Poke’s, are not easy to come by. The agency also has expertise in a diverse range of digital disciplines such as creative, design, user experience and product development.

Thirdly, it boosts Publicis’ digital presence in London: its profile in that particular space in that city isn’t as high as it is elsewhere. It’ll make a great hub to create a strong UK digital network from – it’s in the right place (Shoreditch) and has the credentials to attract the cream of up-and-coming talent.

Poke was founded in 2001 as a ‘pureplay’ digital agency by current CEO Nick Farnhill, Nicolas Roope, Tom Hostler and Peter Beech. These four own 12.5 per cent of the company, with the other 50.01 per cent being owned by Mother, one of the last great London indies still standing. Mother has sold its stake in Poke as well, but its independent status is unaffected.

Poke’s reasons for selling are revealed on the agency’s blogsite:

"It was the right deal at the right time for the right reasons and it's been done the right way. You can't get far… without productive partnerships and collaborations. Change can sometimes be difficult to appreciate, but we view it as motivating.

“One of the hardest challenges any creative company faces is understanding when and how to evolve. It’s a scary prospect, especially when things are going well, but evolve we must, particularly in such a fast-moving, constantly changing, environment. The fear of change, or risk, can become a debilitating condition, but we’ve always prided ourselves on our ability to adapt, whilst staying firmly anchored to our founding principle - namely, an open, collaborative approach. From ‘Day One’ we’ve used collaborations to inspire us to think differently, and to continuously redefine what we do.”

The team obviously also knew what they were getting into before the deal was inked – they’ve worked with Publicis for a number of years, most notably on the Orange account.

"Poke is a company that we have admired for some time," said Jean-Yves Naouri, executive chairman of Publicis Worldwide in a statement to the press. "This acquisition will further strengthen our Publicis UK offering by adding a new level of digital expertise, creativity and innovation to the Publicis UK group of agencies."

Poke will become part of Publicis Group UK, which includes agencies Publicis London, Publicis Chemistry and Publicis Blueprint.

Of course, the big question that inevitably arises when a large group acquires an up-and-coming hip indie is whether or not the magic that made the acquired agency so successful and attractive in the first place can be retained – or whether the culture and processes of the bigger shop will win out.

Obviously we don’t know, and won’t do for some time. But the signs look good – Levy hasn’t paid out for a distinctive shop just for it to become like every other agency in his group.

And the talent looks like staying. The Drum’s own Jessica Davies reported last week: “The move is not expected to result in any redundancies, and the senior management team and founding partners, comprising CEO Nick Farnhill, executive creative director Nik Roope, chief operating officer Peter Beech and client partner Tom Hostler, will remain with the business in the same roles.”

From Publicis’ point of view, it seems that Poke’s skills will ‘complement and enhance’ Publicis’ existing capabilities across advertising, CRM, content solutions and digital communications. It may be that it’s hoping a little bit of Poke’s magic mojo will rub off on the wider group in the UK. To be honest, it’s needed.

But why would the Poke Four allow themselves to be bought in the first place? Often it’s not money, or the promise of early retirement that motivates agency founders to sell; it’s ambition. In order to take the baby you’ve birthed and nurtured to the next level, to work with the really big clients with big budgets, you need an injection of cash; to play out your ideas on a bigger stage, you need partners with deep pockets. This seems to be the case here.

As Poke’s Farnhill said this week: "Our new partnership is simply a natural and positive evolution of the relationships [we’ve previously had with Publicis].

“Particularly appealing is the opportunity to develop digital communication solutions beyond advertising with our new UK partners, the capacity to operate more effectively internationally and the potential of exciting career opportunities for our team. Digital isn't one thing. It's everything. So you can't get far without productive partnerships.”

Andrew Moss is a partner at Green Square, corporate finance advisors to the media and marketing sector.