Publicis Groupe has acquired Octopus Group, an integrated B2B marketing agency in London, as business-to-business marketing is a “major growth area” for both B2B and business-to-consumer customers.
The Octopus Group, founded in 2001 and employing around 60 people in its Farringdon office, becomes part of the British creative practice of Publicis Groupe and is moving to the nearby office on Chancery Lane, where Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett are based in London.
It’s the Publicis Groupe’s most significant M&A activity in the UK in the creative industries since 2014, and signals that some of the big agency groups may be ready to get back on the acquisition path once the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Annette King, managing director of Publicis Groupe UK, said she has tried to improve her B2B skills since joining in 2018.
“B2B is such a huge growth area in the industry in general,” she said. “Many customers are B2B customers, but some are [both] B2C and B2B customers in different ways. In order to truly serve all of our customers, B2B is an important set of skills and expertise that we need. “
Octopus Group’s customers include technology, finance, and professional service brands such as Siemens, Adobe, Logitech, Smartsheet, Cognizant, and ACI Worldwide. The company has a number of tech-first roles, including creative, content, digital experience, and public relations.
Octopus Group topped PR Week’s largest agencies by B2B sales in the UK last year with estimated sales of £ 6.2m.
Jon Lonsdale, managing director and co-founder of Octopus Group, said she has expanded from PR and communications in recent years, introducing a “more integrated agency model for B2B”.
“It’s a crucial time for B2B right now.”
The Octopus Group has continued to grow despite the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing its average project size increase by 30%, according to Lonsdale.
“It’s a crucial time for B2B right now,” he said. “It’s always been the bridesmaid rather than the bride, but actually a lot of the big changes that are going on in the economy, not just in the UK but around the world, but a lot of B2B changes.”
Octopus Group does not currently have any joint clients with Publicis Groupe, but Magnus Djaba, General Manager of the creative practice of Publicis Groupe UK, who will oversee the acquired agency, said they have “shared beliefs and ambitions”.
According to Lonsdale, joining a larger group was an opportunity to “scale” the business and gain access to the data, technology and creative capabilities of Publicis Groupe.
“We’ve always hit the drumstick that it doesn’t have to be boring and boring just because it’s B2B,” he said.
According to Djaba, the Octopus Group has a “forward-looking view on B2B rather than looking back at how people may have delivered communication” in the past.
“The disruption caused by the pandemic is causing some B2C brands to increasingly adopt a B2B2C approach,” he said.
“Brands are also facing a time of major technological change and disruption. One of the things that drew us to the Octopus Group is their technological background.
“We need to understand all of the challenges our customers face, from marketing to sales to retailing to product innovation, in order to deliver the right creativity at every point of their sales funnel.”
King said, “We have been looking for the right B2B partner for a while to improve our skills in this area. Octopus has a proven track record of solving customer challenges in ways that transform categories.
“Joining Publicis Groupe UK as part of our Power of One model is a great opportunity for clients and agencies to grow.”
Publicis Groupe’s UK sales fell 12.4% last year during the pandemic. The French parent company performed better than expected globally as sales fell 6.3% and the share price made up for all losses by the end of 2020.
The group has focused on large-scale global acquisitions in recent years, including Sapient in 2014 and Epsilon in 2019.
The Group’s last significant creative acquisitions in the UK came in 2014 for Salter Baxter and Turner Duckworth, although other deals were made, including the Translate Plus production business in 2017 and the completion of the Blue 449 buyout in 2019.
The Octopus Group’s management team are the main shareholders. These include Lonsdale, finance director Ben Holden, board director Nicola Pestell, chief strategy director and co-founder Billy Hamilton-Stent, and Pete Hendrick, managing director and co-founder.
The financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.