Publicis Communications marries Arc, Vivid Brand and Saatchi X shopper marketing operations
Publicis Communications has announced that it is to merge its disparate shopper marketing divisions spread across Arc, Vivid Brand and Saatchi X to form a single one-stop-shop offering for clients.
Joining forces under one roof at Publicis’ UK HQ the move will see the collective of agencies operate under the Arc brand with economies of scale allowing the combined entity to a more comprehensive cohort of brand activation specialisms and experience, benefiting clients such as P&G, EE and Energiser.
The unit will consist of some 70-staff led by Gideon Karmiloff, managing director at Vivid Brand and will provide services to other agencies in the Publicis network such as Publicis London, Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Guy Wieynk, CEO, Publicis UK & Western Europe and Global Lead for Sapient Inside, said: “Our clients are looking to us to provide solutions that respond to today’s reality of how we consume media and shop from various platforms. Increasingly, we are bringing down silos to ensure greater efficiencies and effective solutions for our clients; Arc, Vivid Brand and Saatchi X not only give our clients the benefit of fully integrated agency teams, but also access to global shopper experts who will create more value for the brands they own.”
Gideon Karmiloff, CEO, Arc & Vivid Brand added: “We have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to become more than the sum of our parts; by bringing incredible Shopper and Creative talents from three of the world’s leading shopper brands we will offer our existing and future clients unrivalled expertise to help their brands lead the way today and for tomorrow.”
Arc will specialize in ideation, strategy, creative, eCommerce, B2B and experiential.
Publicis Groupe was recently forced to write off $1.5bn (€1.39bn) from its digital business amidst an admission that Sapient, digital marketing specialists purchased for $3.7bn in 2015, would fail to hit their growth target.