Influential, which claims to be the biggest influencer marketing company by revenue, has sold to Publicis Groupe. With a network of 3.5m creators, Influential will now team up with Epsilon, the data and marketing group which Publicis bought for £4.4bn in 2019.
The deal is expected to be finalised at the end of August. Influential, which first launched in California in 2013, is riding high on the influencer trend, but how far can it go? Ogilvy, for example, has just launched Influence Shield, a risk management division designed to “empower brands to safely navigate the complex and ever-evolving landscape of social media and influencer marketing”.
While the rewards are many, the risks around influencer marketing are high. Ogilvy’s new initiative is headed up by Toby Conlon, whose job title is global head of crisis and risk, which sounds pretty dramatic. He offers services including “triage and escalation”, “rapid response” and “risk categorisation”, which shows just how dangerous a game influencer marketing can be.
According to Publicis Groupe estimates, global social media spend is expected to reach $186bn by 2025 – more than linear TV – and influencer marketing is the fastest growing segment. Together, Publicis, Epsilon and Influential will focus on the creator network, influencer planning and cross-channel marketing powered by AI.
Ryan Detert, Influential CEO said: “We look forward to combining our complementary capabilities and technology to deliver unparalleled influencer identification, content creation, amplification, and measurement for our clients – and to defining the next era of influencer marketing together.”
Arthur Sadoun, Publicis Groupe CEO, said: “Influential is above all an outstanding team of talent at the very cutting edge of their sector. With the new creator economy set to exceed linear tv on adspend in the next year, thanks to Influential we are able to fully embrace its outsized influence and put it at the service of all of our clients.”
