The Brand Agency buys Market United to take Perth staff to 95, with 29 working in digital roles
The Brand Agency has purchased the Perth based operations of the specialist digital agency Market United, and will be integrating its staff and clients into The Brand Agency from today.
This will take total Perth staff numbers to 95, with 29 working directly in specialist digital roles and provide clients with access to Perth’s largest specialist digital resource, with market leading experts in digital strategy, large scale technical development and online marketing.
Says Brand Agency managing director Steve Harris (pictured): “Within our Perth office we have grown from one person in digital in early 2010 to 16 in January 2012. Approximately one in five of our staff are now in digital roles, but the demand for digital services continues to grow.
“Importantly, our digital offering will continue to be fully integrated into the mainstream ad agency, providing our clients with the unique ability to choose either a single integrated approach to all advertising requirements, or to access standalone specialist digital services backed by the resources of Perth’s largest advertising agency.
“This acquisition reinforces our position as the market leading agency in WA and adds further strength to our offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. No other agency can offer the Perth market the same degree of digital integration and resources; we now have more than three times the number of digital people as any other ad agency competitor, and we expect this to continue to grow over the next twelve months.”
15 Comments
Is this the end of mainstream agencies in Perth? I think so. Look at Linc. Moving rapidly towards digital. Linc and Brand. Taking the lead. All the others are falling behind.
How many people will have to be let go from MU and Brand’s current digital offering?
But I just started at MU as a website designer. Doooohhhh.
I don’t understand agencies who use the logic of ‘we’re now bigger, so we’re now better’ – from a client perspective it often means more layers, more costs, less service…
Don’t believe the hype, 29 is a gross exaggeration, unless you count the cleaning staff!
6 months anyone? Bets please.
Longtail Communications, the Perth-based digital agency, has bought back the remaining 50 per cent share of the business from creative shop The Brand Agency.
Carlo Bertozzi, Longtail founder and co-owner, said it would continue to work with The Brand Agency on accounts such as Bunnings Warehouse, Curtin University and Landcorp.
Bertozzi said: “The Brand Agency has been a great partner and we look forward to continuing to work together both here and in Melbourne.
— maybe not….
This is not so much a buy-out as a bail-out if you look at Q Ltd’s annual report. Another smart move by Brand’s management. Standby as ill-managed holding cimpany over-pays at top of market and sweep in when the shit hits the fan and pick up the remains at a bargain price. Any of the MUers that hold onto their jobs should be thankful because the alternative was oblivion.
Feb 7 – 3.33 – Your comment reminds me of the intense media attention when the web was in top gear. How many 90’s web companies have survived. Here we are a few years down the track and web is just a bit part player in the offering, nothing more.
Balanced and informed growth and less hype please.
Growing from one person in 2010 to 16 just means you’ve thrown a lot of money and people at a very sophisticated problem. If Double G was bought and thrown into Brand tomorrow would the entire business start becoming proficient at integrating and running a TV production company? A little more time training and planning would have been money better spent in my opinion.
I’m a MUer and I’m holding on as tight as possible.
Wasn’t Gatecrasher involved with this deal in some way?
Brand are obviously number 1 agency now
Quote of the week from In retrospect: “Here we are a few years down the track and web is just a bit part player in the offering, nothing more.”
Better warn Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Larry Page & Dick Costolo….
I think have wasted their money. The internet is on the way out.
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2010/02/27/newsweek-1995-buy-books-newspapers-straight-intenet-uh/