JWT Buys L.A. Shopper-Marketing Firm Lunchbox

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/jwt-buys-l-a-shopper-marketing-firm-lunchbox/228809/

JWT North America has inked a deal to acquire Lunchbox L.P., a 70-person shopper-marketing agency based in Los Angeles. The companies share two key clients: Unilever and Kimberly-Clark.

Lunchbox says its expertise is in retail strategy and building shopper-marketing solutions -- online, on mobile devices and via in-store video and point-of-purchase displays. The firm has also produced branded music performances online and in-store for retailers, and claims to have worked with a long list of well-known artists, including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, Adele, Rihanna, The Ting Tings, Lil Wayne, Drake and David Cook.

One of its better-known executions is the Walmart Soundcheck platform, which features original concert footage and interviews and partners with a variety of Unilever brands. It can be accessed through Walmart.com as well as in-store.

Lunchbox was founded in 2005 by Adam Roe, an interesting character who boasts on his LinkedIn page that in addition to his branding and advertising experience he is a former competitive skateboarder, Japanese monster movie star and a licensed clinical hypnotherapist. Though Lunchbox is based in L.A., it also has offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Bentonville, Ark.

Behind Big Fuel's Sale to Publicis Groupe

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/big-fuel-s-sale-publicis-groupe/228769/

The ink is dry. A week after Ad Age reported the two companies were in talks, Publicis Groupe announced it has taken a majority stake in New York-based social media shop Big Fuel.

Publicis has invested enough to be majority owner -- it has a 51% equity stake -- but it has the option to own the shop fully by 2014.

The deal demonstrates the urgency with which Madison Avenue believes it needs to be equipped to provide a range of digital and social-media solutions for its clients. And it also shows Publicis' seemingly insatiable appetite for acquisitions these days.

As part of the agreement, Big Fuel -- a relatively new, social media-only outfit helmed by longtime adman Jon Bond -- will fall under the Vivaki umbrella at Publicis as a social-media resource for existing agencies in the group, including Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia.

The shop has grown very quickly. Big Fuel has more than 170 employees today, up from 30 in early 2010. Revenue this year is expected to hit $30 million, up five times from 2010 revenue, according to a statement from Publicis. Big Fuel is social-media agency of record for T-Mobile and General Motors, a major client for Publicis. Investment bank Jordan Edmiston Group represented Big Fuel in the transaction.

Publicis Groupe in Talks to Acquire Big Fuel

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/publicis-groupe-talks-acquire-big-fuel/228698/
Publicis Groupe's Vivaki unit is in advanced talks to acquire Big Fuel, a New York-based social-media agency, Ad Age has learned.

Big Fuel, which bills itself as a "pure-play social-media agency designed for the needs of large brands," shares a number of clients with Publicis Groupe. Among them are General Motors, McDonald's, Microsoft and T-Mobile, which just tapped Big Fuel to serve as its first social-media agency of record earlier this week. GM has been a transformative client for Big Fuel; new assignments from the automaker have forced the agency to increase headcount substantially in the last six months, according to two people briefed on the company.

Big Fuel CEO Jon Bond and a Vivaki spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Big Fuel was born in 2008, when TV producer Avi Savar renamed his existing broadcast production agency. Then focused on branded content, the agency has since evolved to handle social media for marketers.

The deal -- which people familiar with the situation say is in the advanced stages and could see a contract agreement materialize within a week -- comes as the third-largest agency holding company has expanded its budget for acquisitions, with a focus on digital companies and growing its footprint in China and other emerging markets.

Digital accounts for more than one quarter of U.S. agency revenues

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/agency-news/digital-accounts-for-more-than-one-quarter-of-u-s-agency-revenues-26472
Advertising Age looked at more than 900 ad shops for its 2011 Agency Report, and of the US$30.4 billion they made in revenue in 2010, 28% – US$8.5 billion – came from digital services.

One point is clear: digital has become a standard tool across every agency discipline.

To be sure, six in 10 digital dollars – or $5.1 billion – last year went to digital-specialty agencies such as Publicis Groupe’s Digitas and Sapient Corp.’s SapientNitro.

The second biggest portion – $2 billion – went to agencies whose core business is direct marketing or customer relationship management. Ad Age estimates direct-marketing/CRM agencies generated 42% of U.S. revenue from digital services in 2010.

WPP invests in Just Marketing International

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/wpp-invested-sports-marketing-shop-jmi/228651/

The world's largest holding company today said it has taken a stake in Just Marketing International, an Indianapolis-based motorsports marketing shop.

Andrew Scott, WPP's director of corporate development, told Ad Age that the holding company has worked with JMI for more than a decade, getting to know the shop through relationships built with WPP's media agencies. Mr. Scott said the investment in JMI is a reflection that the holding company "sees opportunities in the sector" and that sports marketing globally is attracting more interest from WPP's clients. He also said that JMI's specialty, motorsports, attracts large worldwide audiences -- in the U.S. with Nascar and abroad with Formula One racing. "It's an increasingly interesting area for our clients. ... There are truly global, cross-platform, new-media opportunities," Mr. Scott said.

He declined to talk about terms of the deal.

The stake is understood to be somewhere between 20% and 25%. Spire Capital, which took a majority stake in JMI in 2008, remains the principal shareholder, and its CEO, Zak Brown, is still the second biggest shareholder. JMI has about 120 employees, and beyond its Midwest headquarters, it has small offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Charlotte, N.C., and Daytona Beach, Fla. With the help of WPP, it's likely the firm could move into new markets.

Mr. Brown opened the firm's doors in 1995, and its client roster includes some shared clients with WPP agencies, including UPS, which works with Ogilvy, and DirecTV which works with Grey, as well as a number of clients WPP shops don't work with. JMI's client list includes Subway Restaurants, Farmers Insurance, LG Electronics and Johnnie Walker.

WPP, which in addition to its new affiliation with IMG and stake in JMI also owns London-based sports-marketing firm Prism, may look at other deals in the sector down the road. "We're actively looking at investment opportunities in the sports-marketing and entertainment sector," Mr. Scott said.

WPP to Allocate 200 Million Pounds in 2011 on Acquisitions, Sorrell Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-13/wpp-to-allocate-200-million-pounds-in-2011-on-acquisitions-sorrell-says.html

WPP will allocate more than 200 million pounds ($325 million) this year on acquisitions, compared with a typical annual budget of 100 million pounds in previous years, Sorrell said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Jakarta today. The company is seeking to expand in “new media” such as the Internet, and in emerging markets, he said.

Group M's Canadian Outlook

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/media-news/groupm-downgrades-global-ad-spend-forecasts-31381?p=31381?utm_source=EmailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=marketing_daily_AM

• TV is strong, but newspapers reign. After spending $3.76B on TV advertising in 2010, advertisers will pay $4.01B this year and $4.09B next. Newspapers took in $4B in ad revenue in 2010, and are likely to bring in $4.18B this year and $4.2B next.

• TV spending was up a whopping 21% in 2010 after falling 8.5% in the dark recession-clouded days of 2009. It’s predicted to rise a more modest 6.8% this year and just 2% in 2012.

• Magazine was the only media that didn’t enjoy a bounce-back in 2010. After falling 14.7% in 2009, consumer magazines were off another 2% in 2010 and are projected to be flat this year. For business books, the drop was 13.8% in 2009, 3% last year and will likely fall another 3% this year.

• In 2004, Canadian marketers spent just $364 million on digital advertising; that rose to just over $2 billion last year and should hit $2.365 billion in 2011 (about 17.4% of all media spend).

• Procter & Gamble remains Canada’s biggest advertiser, spending $211 million in 2010, up 27% from the year before. GM was in second place spending $151 million, up 68%, followed by the Federal Government ($126 million, +4%) and Rogers Communications ($124 million, +8%).

Infogroup sells research unit to private equity firm

Database company Infogroup sold its research branch, Opinion Research Company International (ORC), to Chicago-based private equity firm Lake Capital Management.
Infogroup president and CEO Clare Hart said July 7 that the sale will allow Infogroup to concentrate on consumer data, list management and brokerage, multichannel marketing and sales enablement.
“The sale creates an opportunity for us to focus our resources on the focus of our business,” she said. Hart declined to provide specifics, saying only that the sale is “part of an ongoing effort to concentrate resources to the most important areas.”
Marc Litvinoff, CEO of ORC, said in a statement: “Lake Capital is a great fit for ORC, as it will give us the flexibility to invest in high-growth opportunities that will further enhance our existing research offerings to clients and expand our global footprint.”
ORC, which was acquired by Infogroup in 2006 for $134.3 million, will be independently run, according to a statement.
About 400 full-time employees, or approximately 15% of Infogroup's full-time workforce, will move to Lake Capital Management as part of the transaction. Infogroup began a round of layoffs June 30 that reportedly cut 140 jobs.
http://www.dmnews.com/infogroup-sells-research-unit-to-private-equity-firm/article/206894/