Episode 24: Digital Acquisition
Listen (27 min, 39 seconds)With massive media conglomerates such as Publicis and WPP having spent a good part of the last ten years acquiring digital agencies for obscene amounts of money we decided to take a look at local digital agencies that have been acquired by larger media or advertising holding groups.
In 2007, Publicis spent a whopping 1.3 billion dollars in a landmark deal to buy US agency Digitas and in the same year, WPP bought South African agency Aqua Online in the same year as buying five other digital agencies, one of them costing 650 million dollars. Clearly selling a share of a digital agency is big business for both the agency founders as well as media conglomerates.
In this episode we speak to agency heads Brent Shahim from Aqua Online, Gavin Rooke from Trigger and Pete Case from Gloo. Each of these agencies have been bought by WPP, Isobar and Kagiso respectively. We take a look at the pitfalls of acquisitions and pick apart the specifics of these deals involving both local and international media conglomerates. We're also joined by industry commentator Sandra Gordon to get her take on the local industry.
In our agency of the week we speak to Keisha Mayhew of Prezence, one of SA’s largest web and new media agencies and a part of Primedia. Our top ten this week are author Lauren Beukes, writer of the book Moxyland's, favourite opening lines from books. Finally Rob Stokes joins us for the third time to give us his tips and tricks on SEO.
Guests:
Brent Shahim:
Brent is firmly a part of the Web 1.0 world, but really about as close to royalty in that environment as you can get. He has built up Aqua Online over the past twelve odd years into South Africa`s biggest new media agency. He sold the business to WPP, and it is now the official digital arm of Y&R in South Africa. Brent is incredibly adept at growing new media businesses with a strong commercial slant.
Pete Case:
Pete is a creative mind who really gets the integration of digital in a multi channel environment, and how to incorporate Digital in meaningful, capturing ways. Pete is one of six opinion leaders in the industry, currently steering the formation of The Digital Forum, which is an organization aiming to formulate standards and guide the digital industry forward.
Sandra Gordon:
Gordon is a founder shareholder and is actively involved in the advertising and design company Idealogy, the strategic communications consultancy Stone Soup, and Wag the Dog, publisher of the Media. She is involved in a joint venture to manage Marketingweb. She was the first female vice-president of the Institute of Marketing Management. She is on the advisory board of the Gay and Lesbian archives and vice-chairperson of the Women's Professional Golf Association.
Gavin Rooke:
Gavin Rooke is the CEO of digital direct marketing agency Trigger.
Keisha Mayhew:
Keisha is a New Business Manager for Prezence, a web and new media agency.
Lauren Beukes:
Lauren Beukes is a writer, TV scriptwriter and recovering journalist (although she occasionally falls off the wagon). She's the author of Moxyland , a speculative urban thriller originally published by Jacana that has been picked up by Angry Robot for release in the US, UK and Australia.
Links:
Aqua Online: http://www.aquaonline.co.za/
Gloo: http://www.gloo.co.za/
Trigger: http://trigger.co.za/
Prezence: http://www.prezence.co.za/
The Media: http://www.themediaonline.co.za
Quirk: http://quirk.biz/
Lauren Beukes: http://www.moxyland.com/
Cape Town Daily Photo: http://www.capetowndailyphoto.com/
Jarred Cinman: http://jarredcinman.com/
Saul Kropman: http://saulk.co.za/
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