S4 Capital, run by former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed it will merge its global content arm Mediamonks with IMA, one of Europe's largest influencer agencies.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the merger further strengthens MediaMonks' digital marketing offering and ability to reach new customers, with content across the full range of digital channels.
IMA is the first full-service influencer marketing agency f ounded in 2010 by Emilie Tabor and Maddie Raedts, who were joined by Anneke Schogt in 2016 as CEO.
IMA helps international brands, including Pernod Ricard, Under Armour, Beiersdorf, Diesel, Microsoft, Heineken, Samsonite and Booking.com reach the appropriate audience through tailored campaigns.
Its network of 40,000 influencers reaches billions of consumers worldwide, divided over a number of different geographies and industries, including fashion, retail, consumer electronics, automotive, travel, beauty and lifestyle.
“This merger is yet another example of our focus on top line growth. Influencer marketing is an important sub-set of the digital content marketing industry and is predicted to double in size over the next three years," Sorrell says.
"Emilie, Maddie and Anneke are also great examples of female entrepreneurs, who are building successful digital businesses. They will bring an added dimension to both MediaMonks and S4 Capital."
S4 Capital and Sorrell stated the move is another important strategic step towards delivering a faster, better and cheaper offer for clients worldwide, with a unitary business model, following the acquisition in May of food and beverage content specialist Caramel Studios by MediaMonks and its proposed merger in June with Adobe-certified online marketing and customer experience specialist BizTech.
Late last year Sorrell and S4 continued their acquisition run, adding programmatic advertising group, Mighty Hive, to its ranks for US$150 million.
‘’The cultural fit between both companies is spot-on and therefore, we foresee a seamless integration," Schogt says.
"It is quite unique that both global companies were founded in Amsterdam, with the same disruptive entrepreneurial mindset. We see big opportunities together in the field of content and taking the influencer marketing movement to the next level.”
In June, Sorrell continued to build on his "new era" digital advertising and marketing group, appointing the agencies first chief growth officer.
Scott Spirit joined the business from artificial intelligence business Eureka AI. Prior to this, he had worked under Sorrell at WPP, as the holding group's chief strategy and digital officer.
Former WPP AUNZ executive Elizabeth Buchanan also joined the board as a non-executive director on 12 July 2019.
Sorrell launched S4 Capital early last year after a public exit from WPP amid claims of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets.
“The influencer space is only just starting to properly mature – and with S4 Capital’s speed and worldwide scale, we can’t wait to fully leverage our network with the talent and new content capabilities throughout the group," Tabor says.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.