News

Publicis expands Digitas with acquisition of Brazilian digital agency

by Staff Brand Republic 19-Nov-08, 09:00

PARIS - Publicis Groupe is to acquire one of Brazil's top digital agencies Tribal, marking the next step in the international roll-out of the Digitas global network.

The Sao Paulo-based agency has around one hundred staff and offers a range of in-house services and clients include Microsoft, Philips, Chrysler and Whirlpool. The Tribal brand will be kept and the agency will be aligned with the Digitas global network.

The team will continue to be led by the existing management team of Pierre Mantovani, CEO and Renato Fabri, chief creative officer who will report to François de La Villardière, CEO of Digitas Latin America.

Laura Lang, chairman & CEO of Digitas, said: "The acquisition of Tribal is key for strengthening our global operations and expanding the Digitas network into Latin America. Brazil is poised for significant growth as internet/broadband penetration accelerates in the next two years. From a digital perspective, Brazil is vital for our clients and Tribal gives us a centre of excellence to leverage in an important growth market."

Brazil is one of the most promising advertising markets in the world. According to ZenithOptimedia forecasts, the Brazilian ad market grew by 25.1% in 2007, up from 19.4% in 2006.

The ad market has been growing well ahead of the wider economy, which has been growing at about 4% a year for the last few years. ZenithOptimedia forecasts a 15.4% total ad expenditure growth for 2008, and double-digit growth for 2009 and 2010.

Publicis Groupe now has nearly 750 employees in Brazil and its agency brands include Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Fallon, and now Digitas.

The expansion of Digitas, which Publicis Groupe acquired at the end of 2006, into Brazil adds to its operations in the UK, France, in India, Singapore and China.

In addition to expanding Digitas globally, the acquisition of Tribal also builds on Publicis Groupe's strategy of investing in emerging economies and increasing its revenue share from digital and high-growth markets.

François de La Villardière, CEO of Digitas Latin America, said: "Pierre and his team at Tribal bring strong leadership and a broad range of creative expertise and global clients, everything we need to provide a solid foundation for our Digitas Latam operations."

Pierre Mantovani, CEO of Tribal, added: "As we already have an international dimension, with communication campaigns in 20 different countries, joining Digitas and becoming part of Publicis Groupe is a great opportunity for us to operate on a larger scale, while maintaining our identity and our corporate culture."