NEW YORK: WPP has acquired social influencer marketing agency Obviously in its latest acquisition in the creator space, effective on March 17.
Obviously’s team of nearly 100 staffers will join the VMLY&R network and will boost the WPP creative organization’s investment in data and social media, the holding company said in a statement. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The agency will maintain its branding, team and culture, operating independently under the VMLY&R umbrella.
The influencer firm’s services include marketing strategy, influencer identification, content creation, campaign management and reporting and analysis, the network said in a statement. Based in New York with operations in San Francisco and Paris, Obviously helps clients with automating processes, streamlining workflow between influencers, clients and internal teams and campaign and audience data.
Obviously’s data analytics structure will leverage artificial intelligence to deliver predictive analytics and assess campaign pricing and benchmarking, the network said.
Obviously was founded in 2014 by founder and CEO Mae Karwowski (pictured below) and cofounder and CTO Maxime Domain. They and COO Leonzo Cuiman will retain their titles. No layoffs took place as a result of the deal.
"We're seeing a major shift in advertising: influencer marketing is no longer in a silo, it's actively impacting all marketing efforts, from creative strategies to conversion tracking," Karwowski said. "We work with enterprise brands to manage that complexity and the scale of creator campaigns that they can't find anywhere else"
The firm focuses on regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, finance and insurance. It has worked with clients including Google, Ford, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.
Obviously joins a list of influencer marketing agencies acquired by WPP over the last year, including Goat last week. The firm added Goat to media firm Group M’s Nexus operations and made Village Marketing, acquired last February, part of the Wunderman Thompson creative network.
The holding company also acquired German healthcare PR firm 3K Communications this month and added it to Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ global network.
This story was updated on March 27 with additional information.