Paris, France, Dec. 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris: FR0000130577, CAC40] announced today the acquisition of Relevant24 (R24), a leader in creating original, multi-media branded content in real-time to help make brands relevant every day. Based in Boston, MA with an office in Venice, CA, R24's 23-person staff provides expertise in leveraging real-time consumer insights with a daily publisher process for original content creation. The team does so with a war room model comprised of experts who identify trends daily, bring forward what's relevant, and apply judgment and sensibility to create original multi-media branded content as insights, events, trends and conversations unfold.
As $44B a year is spent on content marketing, according to the Custom Content Council, R24's successful approach to results-driven, high-quality original content at the speed of relevancy has provided clients with 5x the average reach in earned media, more than doubling engagement across all social channels.
R24 will be aligned with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and immediately plugged in as the real-time content infrastructure to the current SMG content solutions businesses. This will boost SMG's content creation capability; expand CONTENT@SCALE, SMG's proprietary next generation platform that enables marketers to automate and distribute quality content from many of the world's best publishers in real-time; grow SMG's paid social business; and provide a formidable end-to-end offering in real-time, relevant brand storytelling across all consumer channels.
R24 Founders, CEO Marc Gallucci and President Lane Murphy, will maintain their respective roles and Gallucci will join SMG's Global Leadership Council. R24 will retain its name, management team and structure and operate as a standalone unit within Starcom MediaVest Group.
Marc Gallucci, CEO of R24, said: " Our mission is to close the relevancy gap for brands. Consumers are giving valuable insights daily and we're making this data actionable through striking a balance of speed and quality along with unearthing the right data each day. We are excited to bring our expertise to SMG and its clients. "
Laura Desmond, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, said: " This move enables SMG to gain new advantages, extend our leadership and activate against our future in content solutions. The landscape offers huge opportunity to capture data in real time and create a new paradigm in the strategic process, ensuring that messaging and distribution comes together in a way that is live, personalized, agile and tech-enabled ."
About Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is one of the world's leading communications groups. The Groupe offers a full range of services and skills: digital (DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Rosetta, VivaKi, Nurun), advertising (BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi), public affairs, corporate communications and events (MSLGROUP), media strategy, planning and buying (Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia), healthcare communications, with Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), and finally, brand asset production with Prodigious. Present in 108 countries, the Groupe employs more than 63,000 professionals.
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About Starcom MediaVest Group
Starcom MediaVest Group is the Human Experience Company. We believe experiences matter. They enhance lives and build brands. We bring brand experiences to life through SMG's three global award winning agency brands: MediaVest, Starcom and Spark. In 2014, SMG was named Media Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. SMG was also named Festival of Media Global Network of the Year for the second year in a row, and the fourth time in the last six years. Ranked the number one global media network in billings in the world by RECMA, SMG ( www.smvgroup.com ) encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, investment specialists, content creators and digital & technology experts. With over 8,000 employees in 130 offices worldwide, SMG partners with the world's largest marketers including The Coca-Cola Company, P&G, Samsung, and Walmart, as well as new establishment brands including Spotify, Twitter and Airbnb. SMG is part of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40], one of the world's leading communications groups.
| Contacts | |||||
| Publicis Groupe | |||||
| Peggy Nahmany | Corporate Communications | + 33 (0)1 44 43 72 83 | |||
| Martine Hue | Investor Relations | + 33 (0)1 44 43 65 00 | |||
| Stéphanie Constand | Investor Relations | + 33 (0)1 44 43 74 44 | |||
| Starcom MediaVest Group | |||||
| Lauren Hurvitz | Corporate Communications | +1 (917) 683-5118 | |||
| Abby Dow | Corporate Communications | +1 (847) 899-6287 | |||
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