Publicis Groupe Buys Mars United Commerce
Publicis Groupe acquired commerce marketing company Mars United Commerce. Financial terms are not being divulged, but the deal has closed.
Founded 50 years ago, Mars is a global commerce marketing agency, which boasts driving growth for more than 100 of the world’s top brands through its retail consultancy, commerce media expertise and proprietary shopper intelligence. (Mars has also helped retailers, such as 7-Eleven, with their retail media efforts.) Led by global CEO Rob Rivenburgh, Mars has more than 1,000 employees based in 14 hubs worldwide.
Under Rivenburgh's leadership, Mars’ proprietary technology and solutions will further scale and supercharge Publicis’ existing commerce capabilities, according to a media release from Publicis.
“Joining Publicis Groupe will help Mars realize our vision of being the preeminent global commerce company faster and more completely," Rivenburgh said in the release. "We’re excited to have the support of Publicis to bring new opportunities to our existing clients and also to share our connected commerce solution with new clients around the globe. We look forward to writing the next chapter of commerce together.”
The news comes after Mars rebranded in the spring. The Mars United Commerce brand will remain unchanged, and the Mars United Commerce team will be available to all Publicis Groupe agencies and clients, a Publicis spokesperson confirmed with P2PI. The deal values Mars at around $600 million, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Joining forces with Mars, according to Publicis, will let clients influence the complete commerce journey for billions of global shoppers, through an offering that begins with a rich database of consumer and shopper behavior and ends at the digital and physical shelves of the world’s leading online and offline retailers. In a news release announcing the acquisition, Publicis said they can now create and implement end-to-end commerce solutions that optimize:
- Strategy and Insights: Fusing Epsilon’s first-person identity data with Mars United’s proprietary data on shoppers and shopping behavior will give clients 360-degree insight into purchase journeys and new opportunities to motivate shopper behavior change.
- Media and Activation: Combining the scale of Publicis Media with Mars United’s comprehensive understanding of retail organizations – including media, marketing, merchandising and operations – will help clients win the last mile of purchase in physical and digital locations with more efficient and effective campaigns.
- Performance and Measurement: Merging insights into e-commerce sales and operations from Publicis’ digital shelf platform Profitero with Mars United’s data set on commerce media performance will give clients a complete view of their commerce marketing performance – online and offline – and an ability to drive brand growth.
“We are delighted to be welcoming Rob and his incredible teams at Mars to Publicis Groupe,” Arthur Sadoun, Publicis Groupe CEO, said in the release. “Their innovative spirit and proprietary platforms will further connect and complement our existing capabilities, to deliver industry-leading, end-to-end commerce solutions for our clients, both online and offline. With the acquisition of Influential this summer, and now Mars, Publicis is uniquely positioned to help our clients understand both existing consumers and future prospects, and connect that knowledge at an individual level to the new media channels that work hardest for their business: connected TV, commerce and creators. All of this, in clients’ own ecosystems, giving them control over their customer relationships and transparency in their investments and outcomes.”