Media agency group Publicis Media has acquired Ecosys OOH, an out-of-home agency based in India. With this strategic move, Publicis seems to be strengthening its position in the OOH business in India, which it says is expected to grow from Rs 37.1 billion in 2018 to Rs 42.5 billion in 2021. This growth will be on the back of the impetus on infrastructure projects, smart cities and growth in tier 3 & 4 cities in India.
Ecosys was established in 2015 as an independent agency. It specialises in tech solutions and next-generation planning using world-class tools such as Systemapit, Amblify and Tracker. The agency has robust data and analytics capabilities and, Publicis claims, is the only agency in the country to provide measurable return-on-investment in the OOH and ambient media space.
According to Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Media India, Ecosys has made intelligent investments into data and technology—be it in the form of proprietary primary research on traffic count or representing media plans in form of heat maps integrating touchpoint and modal data from various social media platforms.
On the other hand, this acquisition will help Ecosys us consolidate, innovate and scale up on next level, according to Sujit Banerjee, Director & CEO Ecosys OOH. As part of the deal, the core team, which includes Banerjee, Mangesh Shinde, Hardik Kapadi, Manish Chandy, Nipun Arora and Ruben Srivastava, will stay with the company for the next four years, reported the Economic Times. Ecosys’ list of clients includes Audi, Renault, Fiat, Jeep, Acer, Ola and Jockey.
Publicis media’s earlier acquisition in the Indian market include Convonix and Resultrix. Apart from this in India, the global media agency is consists of Zenith India, Resultrix and Starcom India. The group went through a major structural redesigning in 2016, to enable a flatter organisational structure.
In November 2014, Publicis Groupe (Publicis Media’s parent) had signed an agreement to acquire Sapient for $3.7 billion. Previously in the same year, the company had acquired a majority 51% stake in the Delhi-based advertising and digital agency Law & Kenneth for an undisclosed amount.
