Dentsu Aegis Network’s Merkle performance marketing agency is busily expanding in Europe and now it’s getting bigger in the US too, buying global business-to-business digital media and marketing agency DWA.
San Francisco-based DWA has eight offices around the world and clients include Sprint, NetApp, Cisco, DXC, Salesforce, Oracle and Informatica.
DWA founder David Wood says: “I’m thrilled to see Merkle recognize DWA’s strengths and dedication to B-to-B technology, and excited to see what our next chapter will bring as we join forces with the global leader in one-to-one marketing. DWA has a proud history of activating data-driven, digital campaigns for some of the highest regarded B-to-B technology brands in the world. We believe that we are at the forefront of a new advertising generation that focuses on delivering more valuable connections through people-based marketing, and we’ve found a valuable partner who shares our vision and augments our capabilities in Merkle.”
Merkle president and CEO David Williams says: “There’s a growing group of enterprise level, B-to-B and technology businesses, all moving at breakneck pace to adopt the best advertising solutions and platforms. DWA’s client list reflects a clear early-mover advantage. The shift toward people-based marketing, led by Merkle, is as relevant in B-to-B as it is elsewhere. This acquisition will strengthen our ability to deliver those capabilities for B-to-B clients, at scale.”
“People-based marketing” seems to be the new name for direct marketing, with lots of tech thrown in. Dentsu Aegis clearly sees Merkle, which it bought for about $800m, as its rival to the likes of WPP’s Wunderman.
