Karmarama buys mobile agency Nice, wins Iceland
UK marketing services group Karmarama has bought mobile app specialist Nice Agency.
Nice was founded in 2009 by Peter Dolukhanov and Ryan Hall. The agency has since worked on Channel 4’s 4oD across iPad and iPhone plus Freesat, first direct, The Times and UBS.
At the same time Karmarama has won the Iceland retail account after a spell working on projects. The account was formerly with Manchester agency Tom Reddy. This plugs an important gap in Karmarama’s portfolio following a brief stint on B&Q which left last year for WCRS.
Nice had been working with Karmarama on a variety of clients including frozen yogurt brand Snog and Magnum. Karmarama CEO Ben Bilboul says: “Nice has an amazing track record of helping brands transition to mobile. They’ve created business-critical platforms for brands like first direct and Channel 4, and we believe this partnership will give us an unrivalled ability to develop mobile products for our clients.”
Nice MD Dolukhanov (left) says: “We’re extremely proud to join the Karmarama family. They are a natural fit for us – a truly creative agency for the digital era with great people, who genuinely want to put mobile at the heart of their offer – a philosophy that we share. The combination of our businesses will create a remarkable integrated proposition.”
Karmarama is busily trying to grow. In 2013 it bought social media and content agency Grape Digital, now re-branded as Krowd. The acquisition now makes Karmarama one of the largest remaining independent agencies in the UK with about 250 employees.