Publicis Groupe has grown the revenue of CitrusAd since it bought the Australian startup, for a reported $205 million, less than two years ago.
The global advertising company in July 2021 picked up the Australian-based software as a service platform which helps retailers sell digital advertising to brands.
CitrusAd, founded in 2017 by former Adelaide Crows AFL player Brad Moran and Nick Paech, is a white-label, self-serve, ecommerce ad-serving platform that enables retailers to monetise their online shelf-space.
Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun, in announcing December quarter results showing double digit growth for the second year in a row: “On retail media, CitrusAd has doubled in size since we acquired it in 2021.
“We have fully integrated its technology with Epsilon to create a new generation of retail media platform that provides clients with unparalleled customer knowledge directly linked to sell activities.
“Thanks to our recently announced JV with Carrefour, we will actually expand these capabilities beyond the US and the UK into Europe and LatAm by 2024.”
The acquisition is a play to buy into the growth in retailers acting as media platforms, using their high traffic websites as a path for brands to connect with consumers.
CitrusAd is now part of data business Epsilon which Publicis bought in 2019 for US$3.95 billion.
Saudon, briefing analysts on the latest results: “Citrus that has already doubled in size because we took an asset that we plugged into Epsilon.
“We came with the best offer today in the market in retail media which is a booming segment.”
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