Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4Capital has added a third major leg to its business, buying what it calls Europe’s largest influencer agency IMA to merge with its MediaMonks digital content business. Both are based in Amsterdam. S4 also owns the MightyHive programmatic media business.
IMA was founded in 2010 by Emilie Tabor and Maddie Raedts, who were joined by CEO Anneke Schogt in 2016 (all below). IMA has a staff on 85 and clients include Pernod Ricard, Under Armour, Beiersdorf, Diesel, Microsoft, Heineken, Samsonite and Booking.com. S4 says its network of 40,000 influencers reaches billions of consumers worldwide in fashion, retail, consumer electronics, automotive, travel, beauty and lifestyle.
The influencer marketing industry is said to be worth $8bn in 2019 and forecast to grow to $15bn in 2022.
Sorrell says: “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. 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 S4Capital”
Mediamonks CEO Victor Knaap says: “IMA has been at the forefront as this industry has started to come of age. We look forward to working with its entrepreneurial team in developing how powerful influencers can be as part of a digital marketing strategy. MediaMonks’ scale and digital creativity – enhanced by our global content studios for fashion, beauty and food – together with a worldwide network of specialised influencers from IMA, makes a powerful tool for any brand.”