Originally Released On

PRNewswire

CONTACT:

For APAC
Germaine Ong
germaine.ong@stagwellglobal.com

For U.S.
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com




NEW YORK and MANILA, Philippines, Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, has added Octopus&Whale, a Philippines-based game and experience design agency that helps companies parlay ideas into immersive communications, to its fast-growing Global Affiliate Network to bolster full-service and specialty digital solutions for clients across Asia-Pacific. 

The partnership comes as Stagwell accelerates its commitment to growth across Asia, anchored by its regional offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and over 25 affiliate partners in Asia to date.

Octopus&Whale is now celebrating its fourth year, having expanded its client base to include some of the Philippines’ most iconic names in business, such as SM, Meralco, NutriAsia, Unilab, and Philippine Airlines. As the country’s only agency with a focus on gaming, they aim to complement the full-service creative, media and digital services offered by Stagwell.

Octopus&Whale was also the first Filipino agency to venture into the blockchain with “Save Our Sharks,” a metaverse initiative generating over $1.5M worth of digital collectibles to drive awareness for Philippine shark conservation.

“Tiempo and the entire Octopus&Whale team strive to exceed client needs while pushing boundaries across immersive experiences. We’re pleased to partner with them and bring their expertise in the fast-growing gaming and experience space to larger clients in the Philippines and Southeast Asia,” said Randy Duax, managing director, Asia-Pacific for Stagwell.

“Through our partnership with Stagwell, we see endless opportunities to amplify our creative vision and reach untapped markets that could benefit from our specialty digital capabilities,” said Joey David Tiempo, founder and CEO, Octopus&Whale. “We are excited to collaborate with other players in this tech-first network and be the guide for businesses who want to explore the gaming space.”

Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program powers agile global solutions for clients, allowing Stagwell to partner with regional experts to scale marketing capabilities to new regions. Since the program’s inception, Stagwell has formed partnerships with nearly 80 affiliates across APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America, extending Stagwell’s global operational reach to 98 countries.

About Stagwell
Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the network created to transform marketing. We deliver creative performance at scale for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with cutting-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our more than 13,000 experts in more than 34 countries are united under a single purpose: to generate effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com

Media Contacts:

For APAC
Germaine Ong
germaine.ong@stagwellglobal.com

For U.S.
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com

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Originally Released On

PR Newswire

CONTACT: 

For U.S.
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com 

For Brazil:
Laize Lima
lmlima@cpbgroup.com













The agency will work closely with the Stagwell Brazil team with a focus on digital marketing and performance

SÃO PAULO, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, and Clarita, an integrated communications agency, are partnering to offer new solutions and scalability to their clients. Clarita, founded in 2018 by Pedro Cavalcanti – who has worked in creative areas at agencies such as AlmapBBDO and Africa – currently has clients such as Harald and JHSF in its portfolio.

Clarita will work directly with Vinicius Reis, president, Stagwell Brazil and CEO, Crispin Porter and Bogusky (CP+B) Brazil, focusing on digital marketing, media and performance, bringing to the group’s regional portfolio an agency with expertise in sales conversion, lead generation, clicks, forms, landing pages and ads (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.), in addition to integration with CRM and the entire digital journey.

“Clarita is our second Brazilian affiliate in less than three months, signaling our accelerated growth and ability to serve clients at the local level. Our partnership with Clarita will expand our collaboration as strategic partners with new brands and help drive exponential growth of their customers,” says Vinicius Reis, president, Stagwell Brazil and CEO, CP+B Brazil.

Clarita will benefit from Stagwell’s more than 4,000 global client relationships and digital and advertising agency presence around the world, as well as the technology tools of the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a suite of proprietary SaaS technologies for marketers. With the partnership, the companies can attract new customers, by making their processes more efficient and innovative, and by generating more opportunities to create projects that involve creativity and high-value-add solutions.

“Clarita’s affiliation with a global group shows that we have been on the right path over these 5 years. We are eager to collaborate with the other players in the network, bringing our skills in different segments of communication, but mainly applying all our expertise in performance, and making client campaigns more assertive and connected to what their consumers expect,” says Pedro Cavalcanti, partner and creative director, Clarita.

The Stagwell Global Affiliate Program powers agile global solutions for customers, allowing Stagwell to partner with regional experts to scale marketing capabilities to new regions. In less than two years, Stagwell has formed partnerships with nearly 80 affiliates across APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America, extending Stagwell’s global operational reach to 98 countries.

About Clarita
Clarita is an independent communications agency focused on strategy, creativity and results. A full service agency with a consultancy profile.

About Stagwell
Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the network created to transform marketing. We deliver creative performance at scale for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with cutting-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our more than 13,000 experts in more than 34 countries are united under a single purpose: to generate effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Media Contacts
For U.S.
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com 

For Brazil:
Laize Lima
lmlima@cpbgroup.com

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Originally Released On

PR Newswire

CONTACT:

Sarah Arvizo

pr@stagwellglobal.com 







Adds creative and media capabilities in Southeast Asia; will partner with Stagwell on regional activations for global clients

NEW YORK and HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, announced Hanoi, Vietnam-based digital creative shop Markus Agency as a new partner within its Global Affiliate Network. Markus Agency will partner with Stagwell’s network across Asia to help global brands activate authentically with Vietnamese consumers, as well as support local brands exporting products and services worldwide.


Markus Agency brings unique regional expertise in brand marketing development and digital execution, and functionally expands Stagwell’s reach in Asia-Pacific to Vietnam. Markus Agency has built a reputation for driving profitability through world-class creative excellence and digital media versatility, exemplified in its work for Canadian Food, Elasten Germany, Panasonic, Capital Land, and more. Markus Agency aids global brands in meeting local culture; local firms in enhancing their image with high-quality creative content; and local SMEs outsmart, not outspend, their competitors.

“At Markus Agency, our roots in Vietnam have deeply influenced our bold approach to creativity and innovation. With Stagwell by our side, we envision expanding our horizons, tapping into unexplored markets, and crafting even more tailored solutions for our diverse clientele,” said Do Xuan Khoa, Founder and CEO, Markus Agency. “Through this collaboration, we see opportunities not just for enhanced brand reach, but for genuine cross-cultural exchanges that benefit businesses and consumers alike. As the silver age of advertising in Vietnam is unfolding, we aim to amplify our contributions to this vibrant era.”

“Partnering with tested leaders in Vietnam is of particular interest to Stagwell as the U.S. enters a new chapter of bilateral cooperation with Vietnam. Consumer confidence in the region remains strong and stable as the middle class grows, and there’s a huge runway for brands big and small to tap into soaring consumer activity in tech, retail, and other hot sectors. We’re excited to roll up our sleeves with the team at Markus Agency to transform marketing and support economic partnerships into and out of Vietnam,” said Randy Duax, Managing Director, Stagwell Asia-Pacific.

Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program powers agile global solutions for clients, enabling Stagwell to partner with regional experts to scale marketing capabilities into new regions. Since the program’s inception in 2021, Stagwell has formed partnerships with nearly 90 affiliates across APAC, EMEA, LATAM, and North America.

Stagwell agencies within Asia include Assembly (omnichannel media), Allison (integrated global marketing consultancy), Code and Theory (digital transformation), Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore (the #1 creative agency in Singapore), GALE (business agency), National Research Group (consumer research + insights), and Locaria (multilingual content). Stagwell is committed to growing in Asia-Pacific, with regional offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and over 25 affiliate partners in Asia to date.

About Stagwell 
Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.  

About Markus Agency
Markus Agency, rooted in Vietnam, we’re a daring creative agency driven by entrepreneurship, always eager to explore pioneering tech and innovative solutions for our clients. With a dedicated team of visionaries, we work diligently to find answers where others might see barriers. Markus strives to offer both local and international clients in Vietnam a meaningful connection to the global stage, ultimately promoting profitable growth. Discover our journey at https://markus.agency/

CONTACT: 
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2239071/Stagwell_and_Markus.jpg

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1586110/Stagwell_Logo.jpg

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By: Lindsay Hong, COO, Locaria

Originally Released on
Little Black Book

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Locaria’s Hong on bringing the previously siloed skills sets of creative production, adaptation and localisation together

It has been an exciting first three months since we closed on our deal to acquire PEP Group. During this time we have forged new relationships, taken our news out to market and started to see how our combination is delivering better solutions for brands with international ambition. As we begin to plan for 2023, now is a good moment to reflect on what we have learned so far.

In response to the challenge of global content fragmentation that brands have been facing, our vision was to bring together the previously siloed skills sets of creative production, adaptation and localisation, to create a unified global content scaling solution. Using international talent, workflows and systems, we aim to help brands iterate out great marketing campaigns for any channel, market and language, in an efficient and effective manner. So how are we bringing this vision to life?

A core consideration throughout the acquisition process was to ensure continuity and assurance for both teams. We knew that to do that, we needed a fantastic exec team that could unite behind a shared vision. Having explored each other’s questions face-to-face, we secured our joint commitment to delivering a smooth transition for our teams. This evolved into a well-prepared internal and external comms plan, built around that vision: a better way to serve clients as they expand globally. We backed this up with a logical organisational structure with leading roles for senior members of both organisations, empowered to take the vision forward. This has allowed us to effectively respond to staff queries and commence several workstreams, bringing together talent and leadership from both companies, with positive progress already being made. 

 

1. Communication, culture and values

There was already a good cultural fit between the two companies, with our two sets of values sharing a lot of similar vocabulary. We have now iterated out the values to be shared across the entire organisation, and more importantly, operationalised through day-to-day processes such as performance management, hiring, client support and sales. We look forward to launching these formally in the next month. Inevitably there are also divergences in culture values, and understanding. What has been great to see is a high level of transparency and shared responsibility in building a unified team. This has driven a common purpose and collaboration across all teams.

 

2. Go-to-market Strategy 

As the transaction was highly complementary in nature, adding creative adaptation & production to our existing services, the narrative was straightforward. This allowed us to quickly upskill sales resources in both teams to begin speaking to clients and partners as soon as the deal closed. In addition, having a full suite of marketing content localisation and production services has allowed us to support RFPs in partnership with Stagwell creative agencies in a more robust way, leading to wins for the wider network through our efficient post-production services. We have also already opened up SEO and transcreation opportunities with global FMCG brands.

In terms of footprint and client support, the transaction has allowed Locaria to extend its presence in the Americas, adding a team Canada available to support local clients in-market across not only production, but also language services.

 

3. Innovation

As we have been working together to evolve our proposition and go-to-market strategy, we have increasingly noticed similar challenges coming from clients across all areas of the business. Common themes surrounding the need for nuanced content strategies that can scale internationally but keep budgets in check have emerged. The role of AI, automation and tech in both brand and direct response content is something we find all our clients looking for advice on, as is the fine balance between performance and creativity. The evolution of creative production solutions is following a similar pattern to that of language tech in the past ten years. This means our combined experience is able to identify areas for innovation and increased insight, both in terms of our internal processes and client strategies. Our complementary skills are also informing the development of more solutions to support content performance.

 

4. Brand & Marketing 

We have found it important to be respectful of each other’s brands and to make clear decisions on how to align going forwards. Pre-transaction, we identified that due to our different histories, lead generation models and footprints, Locaria had greater brand awareness and more marketing collateral. However PEP, being focused around highly visual media, brought different channels and options for sharing our brand and proposition. As such, our strategy was to launch an updated visual identity for PEP at the time of the transaction, bringing the brand into the broader Locaria group aesthetic and tone of voice. This has been followed by a process to consolidate marketing efforts across social media under the Locaria brand. The social integration is setting the tone for an imminent new version of locaria.com, showcasing creative adaptation and production case studies and explaining all the services and expertise now available to clients as a result of the acquisition. We can also do all our own marketing production in-house now, which is very satisfying!

Reflecting back, there are several key integration principles which have served us well so far and will continue to inform how we grow together as one business:

​• Keep the vision central and repeat it again and again. Ensure all decisions speak to that singular vision

​• Look after people. Talent is at the centre of everything we offer clients, and also what makes Locaria a great place to work. Supporting our team through the journey to realising our vision will ensure success, and make it fun along the way!

​• Make incremental changes where possible to smooth integration. Make small changes quickly, learn and iterate to reduce unnecessary disruption and remain agile

​• Walk the talk- use each other’s services from day one. By using each other’s services internally, we get to know each other better and work out the kinks more quickly. Mutual trust will show through when sharing our services with clients

We have made a fantastic start together and are now entering a phase of increasingly detailed, operational work. As we move forward at pace, we will allow time where it is required to ensure our new organisation is fit for purpose and maintains the high quality standards that Locaria is known for. From the positive foundation of the last 100 days, we are confident that as one team, desiloing production and localisation, we will continue to deliver a bright future for us and our clients.

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By

Robert Sawatzky,
Editor, Campaign Asia
Read this piece in Campaign Asia. 

 

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Challenger holding company Stagwell is doubling down on its global affiliate strategy, adding 11 new partner companies to its worldwide network. All but two of the additions are based in Asia where Stagwell has now also opened a second office in Malaysia.   The partners span China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Italy, and the UK, extending and expanding the network’s media, scaled content and commerce capabilities. Together, some 1,400 marketing practitioners have now been added to Stagwell’s “functional global footprint.”  

Some of the new affiliates, such as China’s SparkX and 99IE, bring specialty expertise in ecommerce and gaming respectively, while India’s Event Capital and Laqshya Live Experiences bring event and experiential chops.  

If you separate the nine subsidiary partners within India’s Laqshya Media Group, the number of new affiliates grows to 19. Media was a key strategic focus, with BushAd also joining from Korea, digital media specialists SuperDrive and SearchGuru joining from Japan and Malaysia respectively, along with three Chinese media companies, including MarketIn and GIMC.   

Not all these affiliate deals make Stagwell their exclusive partner. One of China’s oldest and largest local advertising groups, GIMC, has a track record of partnering with other groups, including joint ventures with Havas and Hakuhodo. Another new content affiliate, Malaysia’s Kingdom Digital, sold a majority stake to Hakuhodo last month.   The two new affiliates added from Europe, Italy’s Caffeina and Digital Mill out of the UK, are both digital content specialists.  

Stagwell’s chief affiliate officer Anas Ghazi and APAC managing director Randy Duax tell Campaign the new affiliations are the result of a mix of inbound interest, strategic planning around capabilities and geographies, but were mostly driven by tangible activations on behalf of clients.  

The global programme

In total, Stagwell now is nearing 80 global partners in more than 60 different markets in less than two years since launching the affiliate programme. Under these deals, there is no immediate monetary investment – both sides merely agree to cooperate on client work. 

For the affiliates, it expands their scope of opportunity beyond their local market without being forced to work for global clients and projects that they don’t want to. For Stagwell it’s a way to expand its global reach and capabilities without needing to raise capital for acquisitions.  For both sides, affiliation is a trial period to feel each other out, which can be a precursor to eventual acquisition as it was with Brand New Galaxy (BNG), a European-based ecommmerce network that was one of Stagwell’s earliest affiliates before the two consummated their relationship through acquisition earlier this year.  

But the programme is not without risk either. It’s hard enough for holding companies, with all their global connective tissues, to deliver the seamlessly integrated global service they’ve been pitching to clients for years, nevermind asking independent agencies with different cultures and objectives to interpret quality, standards, processes the same and deliver what the client wants on terms financially beneficial to all.  But Ghazi already sees proof in acquisitions like BNG and in the number of new business wins emanating from affiliates, referencing a pipeline of yet-to-be-announced deals.  

“With our affiliate partners worldwide, we’ve been able to punch up to win new business and land account expansions across Stagwell—from Hydraltye in Australia and Mashreq Bank in the UAE to our major Lenovo win across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America and North America,” Stagwell chairman and CEO Mark Penn added in a statement. “With our model, we’re not just placing random dots on a map, we’re able to provide clients with global execution rooted in local understanding.”  

“It really is working,” Duax says, who explains that not a day goes by without an opportunity from clients pitching a need to expand to another market, or an affiliate referring a piece of business to be expanded out. 

A second footprint in Asia

If many of the new affiliations are the product of client business, so too is Stagwell’s latest landing pad in Kuala Lumpur. A couple of global client wins together with new work for Ink (with Malaysian Airlines) and Assembly will see the latter hire a dozen new people in Malaysia and accelerated the set-up of an office there.  These announcements follow Stagwell’s stated objective last November to expand aggressively in Asia Pacific, relocating Duax to Singapore where he soon after added Coconuts Media as a content affiliate in January.  

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NEW YORK and KUALA LUMPUR, MalaysiaSept. 1, 2022 Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, has expanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with the opening of its newest global office, Stagwell Malaysia. Stagwell opened its regional headquarters in Singapore in November 2021. Stagwell’s travel content and media brand, Ink, and Assembly, a global omnichannel media agency delivering media and more, will collaborate in the new location.

As part of the office opening, Ink has grown its partnership with Malaysia Airlines to offer sponsorship and advertising opportunities online and offline at the airport, onboard flights, and at home. Ink is actively hiring to support the expansion.

Assembly, which recently won recognition from two of the most prestigious local marketing award bodies, Marketing Excellence Malaysia and MARKies Malaysia, for its leading work in the market across media, will expand its staff to support the growth ambitions of local Malaysian brands and continue to support global businesses in the market.

“As Malaysia celebrates its Independence Day, we are excited to establish our newest global entity in Kuala Lumpur,” said Randy Duax, managing director, Asia-Pacific, Stagwell. “Malaysia’s GDP grew 9% last quarter and e-commerce transactions are expected to grow 25% per year over the next few years. For the kinds of innovative and disruptive clients our network serves and the kind of talent we have in our portfolio, we’re uniquely positioned to amplify brands into, out of, and within Malaysia.”

Stagwell boasts nearly 2,000 employees in the APAC region at agencies including creative network 72andSunny, communications firm Allison+Partners, creative agency Anomaly, global omnichannel media agency Assembly (named the 2021 Media Agency of the Year for Asia-Pacific by The Drum), digital transformation agency Code and Theory, creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors, (named top creative agency in Singapore by Campaign Brief), travel content and media brand INK, multilingual content agency Locaria, path-to-purchase shop MMI Agency, and consumer research agency National Research Group. 

In addition, Stagwell’s innovative affiliate network now boasts 70 active and independent agency brands. In APAC, Stagwell’s affiliate partners include Beyond Media Global (Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei), creative agency Enormous (Gurgaon, Mumbai), influencer agency Metric Design Studio (Shanghai), and digital and content full-service agency Serviceplan (Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Seoul).

About Stagwell

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com

Media Contact:
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com

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    First Joint Out-of-Home (OOH) Campaign for Converse Achieves Meaningful Impact  

    NEW YORK and LONDON – May 23, 2022 – Stagwell Media Network, part of Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), today announced the integration of the U.S. OOH teams from the network’s omnichannel media agency, Assembly, with Talon, to offer smarter, data-driven, and creative-led OOH planning, buying, and proprietary technologies to advertisers. This move represents the next phase of the strategic partnership formed at the end of last year. Together, the team has since successfully collaborated with Converse on an innovative OOH program that has driven meaningful results for this influential brand.  

    Jill Rynenberg, Integrated Digital Marketing Manager, Converse commented, “Out-of-home was integral to Converse’s ‘Create Next’ campaign which saw John Boyega, an influential film star, born and raised in South London, join forces with Converse. It was really important to target the hometowns of Boyega and the five young and undiscovered London filmmakers which we were able to deliver through Talon’s bespoke solutions. This was our first out-of-home campaign planned through Assembly and Talon Outdoor, and we were delighted with Talon’s collaborative and data-led approach to planning.” 

    Rynenberg continued, “Using Talon’s proprietary data management platform, ‘Ada,’ billions of device-level audience data points were activated in order to pinpoint a highly targeted bespoke urban audience in these key hometown locations centred around Peckham and Brixton. Talon worked collaboratively with Assembly and Converse to deliver this highly targeted campaign which was delivered at breakneck speed. Talon’s audience-first data intelligence approach to planning allowed us to reach more of the right audience at the right time, ultimately improving ROI on media spend. We look forward to extending this partnership to deliver many more OOH campaigns.”

     “While OOH revenues were impacted by the pandemic, channel innovations, real-time flexibility, and accelerated creativity has repositioned OOH in the mind of consumers and brands, as demonstrated by the Converse campaign,” said Jon Schaaf, Global Chief Investment Officer, Stagwell Media Network. “By further combining our experience, teams, tools, and industry partnerships, our collaboration with Talon will enable marketers to differentiate their brand and offerings from their competition across both upper and lower funnel efforts.”

    Barry Cupples, Talon’s Global CEO said, “Stagwell’s technology-first approach coupled with their deep expertise in media, creative and digital transformation dovetails seamlessly alongside Talon’s. OOH is more powerful than ever; harnessing data-fuelled technology with capabilities for audience targeting and measurement across the customer journey is bringing game-changing opportunities for advertisers.” Cupples continued, “The strengthening of our partnership with combined goals to drive effectiveness and improve business results for clients will undoubtedly deliver better outcomes for brands and add genuine value to the top and bottom line.”

    About Stagwell:

    Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

     About Stagwell Media Network:

    Stagwell’s Media Network is a group of leading multichannel agencies home to more than 3,500 experts with an expansive global footprint across 40+ offices in 20 countries, managing close to $5 billion in media. Agencies include omnichannel agencies AssemblyBrand New Galaxy, MMI, Goodstuff and Grason, creative consultancy GALE, B2B specialist Multiview, multi-lingual content agency Locaria, and travel and media experts Ink. The network offers marketers a more dynamic partner for global B2B and B2C solutions spanning data, technology, media, and creativity aimed at accelerating business growth for brands worldwide.

    About Talon:

    Talon Outdoor is the leading global independent Out of Home (OOH) media specialist and technology services company focused on delivering smarter, creative, data-driven integrated OOH communications. Combining independence with a collaborative approach, Talon promotes open and transparent working relationships between many of the world’s leading agencies, clients, and media partners. Headquartered in London with offices in Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Manchester, New York, and Singapore Talon delivers expertise at the global, national, regional, and local levels. Additionally, the agency has built a global OOH planning and buying network covering 100 markets across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.talonoutdoor.com and follow up on Twitter and LinkedIn.

    About Assembly:

    Assembly is made of the ingredients of the modern agency, bringing together data, talent, and technology to deliver a connected set of solutions for media + more to the best brands on the planet. We’re home to more than 1,500 of the industry’s top talent, who bring unmatched global omnichannel media expertise + data, technology, and business consulting capabilities that help brands find the change that fuels growth. Assembly is a proud member of Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing. Visit www.assemblyglobal.com for more information.

    Media Contacts:

    Talon UK: Kate Chaundy – Propeller kate.chaundy@propellergroup.com

    Talon America: Ray Yeung + Nancy Zakhary | Relev8 | ray@relev8.co + nancy@relev8.co

    Stagwell: Beth Sidhu  beth.sidhu@stagwellglobal.com| +1. 202.423.4414

    #  #  #

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    By Barbara Evans, Managing Partner, Mediaplus

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    NFTs – short-term hype or a serious, lasting trend? One thing at least is certain: Hardly any other topic is currently shaking up the digital world as much as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short. Whether it’s the crypto scene, the games market, the art world or the music world – everyone wants to participate in the latest digital gold rush. The NFT market was worth around $44 billion U.S dollars in 2021 (Chainalysis Inc.), rivaling the global art and antiques market, which generated sales of around $50 billion U.S dollars in the same period. No wonder marketers are interested in the technology. Read on for a short explainer on the phenomenon.

    WHAT ARE NFTS (NON FUNGIBLE TOKENS)?

    Non-fungible means “not arbitrarily replaceable”, i.e., they are individual pieces that cannot be duplicated. The term typically refers to digital assets such as images, videos, animations, audio pieces or graphics. NFTs take on the function of a digital certificate of authenticity and ownership, making the associated digital file a unique and uniquely identifiable asset – which is also quite forgery-proof: each NFT is given an individual ID and stored on a blockchain as a record that can be viewed online.

    Non-fungible tokens are traded in cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum. The value of such a digital certificate can sometimes rise to astronomical heights, depending on whether it is a sought-after collector’s item or not. For example:

    • In the spring of 2021, for example, the first tweet ever sent by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006, was auctioned off as an NFT for $2.9 million.
    • The first source code for the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee changed hands as an NFT for $5.4 million.
    • An NFT from the legendary CryptoPunk series, which helped to trigger the hype surrounding tokens, achieved the fabulous price of almost 24 million dollars.
    • The most expensive NFT traded so far is the digital artwork “The Merge” by the artist Pak, which fetched $91.8 million in December 2021.

    HOW ARE NFTS BEING USED IN MARKETING?

    The uses vary across industry.

    • AUCTIONS
      • Just before Christmas, for example, Vodafone auctioned off the first SMS sent via the British mobile company’s network in 1992. The telco giant donated the proceeds – 132,000 euros – to a good cause. The PR effect was far greater: more than 3,500 articles on the campaign were published worldwide in online alone, generating around two billion contacts. Coca-Cola was probably also concerned with the positive PR effect: In the summer of 2021, the beverage manufacturer auctioned four multisensory NFT collectibles for International Friendship Day, which could be experienced and used in different ways. The bright red “Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket Wearable,” for example, can be “worn” on the Decentraland 3D virtual reality platform by the avatar of the user who unlocked it. The “Sound Visualizer,” on the other hand, is designed to give an acoustic experience of enjoying an ice-cold Coke, from the fizz of an opening Coke bottle to the refreshing taste. The NFT auction raised a total of more than $ 575.000, which Coca-Cola donated to Special Olympics International.
    • TRANSFERING BRANDS INTO THE METAVERSE
      • Adidas Originals recently launched its first NFT collection under the slogan “Into the Metaverse.” The tokens give owners exclusive access to special products and experiences designed by Adidas in cooperation with NFT pioneers Punks Comic, Gmoney and Bored Ape Yacht Club, who are well-known in the scene. The roughly 30,000 NFTs, worth a total of more than $22 million, sold out in a matter of hours – even though the “physical” goods – a hoodie, tracksuit, and orange beanie – won’t be released until later in 2022. The digital counterparts of these are to be worn by NFT owners ins in the blockchain game “The Sandbox,” where Adidas has purchased a plot of land for its NFT community.
    • INVESTING IN NFT ASSETS
      • Nike is also heavily involved in the NFT business. In 2019, Nike patented the “CryptoKicks” system. Here, the sporting goods manufacturer wants to link limited shoes with a digital asset and “breed” new shoes virtually, which are then produced in real life. Finally, at the end of 2021, the company announced the acquisition of the world’s leading NFT producer RTFKT, which specializes in the design of exclusive digital sports shoes and sneakers.

    WHAT SHOULD BRANDS WATCH OUT FOR AS THEY EXPERIMENT WITH NFTS?

    The business of non-fungible tokens is not without its pitfalls. With the explosion of interest in the technology, the risk of crypto crime is also increasing. Wash trading is also becoming increasingly common in the NFT market — meaning the owner of a digital asset artificially drives up the price of an NFT through continuous buying and selling.

    Additionally, there are questions about the ecological impact of NFTs. Blockchain can consume an enormous amount of energy and leave a large CO2 footprint. Both the production of an NFT and its sale on the blockchain require the computing power of thousands of computers. Brands for whom sustainability is key to positioning could face reputational issues with the use of NFTs.

    WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRANDS NOW?

    It has always been the task of strong brands to be pioneers in emerging technology to drive new dimensions of the consumer experience. For brands whose identities are predicated on being challengers, or strong bridges believe this will also be the case in the area of Web 3.0, that of NFTs. Especially for a brand like Nike, whose essence is to build strong bridges to the popular culture of the new generation again and again, or even to be a cultural core itself, NFTs offer chances and opportunities to build ties that are truly “non-fungible”.

    WHERE DO I GO NEXT?

    Explore Stagwell’s content series on NFTs to learn more about:

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    Originally released on

    NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced a meaningful expansion of its global footprint across MENA with three affiliate partnerships: public relations and marketing network Orient Planet Group, data-driven strategy consulting firm, Phronesis Group, and events and talent management firm FLC. Together, the affiliates scale Stagwell’s leading digital transformation, creative production and modern media services while expanding the roster of local and international talent available to Stagwell and its growing global client roster.

    Each will collaborate with Stagwell’s flagship global media agency Assembly in MENA and existing regional affiliate partner Brand New Galaxy. Additionally, the new affiliates will benefit from best-in-class product solutions in the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a suite of business transformation solutions for in-house marketing teams.

    “Now in its second year, the Global Affiliate Program continues to allow Stagwell to chart agile global expansion and collaborate with regional experts to drive international value for brands. said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “Our partners at Orient Planet Group are already deeply entrenched with teams across the network, and I’m excited to build on our new partnerships with Phronesis and FLC as we continue our mission to transform marketing.”

    The new affiliates are leaders in creative production, digital media, and data-driven strategy consulting:

    • Phronesis Group is a global strategy consulting firm which helps clients achieve global growth through more effective and efficient marketing communications executions. Focused on measurable client outcomes, Phronesis is headquartered in Chicago with offices in the UK, EU, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Indo-Pacific Region, where they serve a distinct portfolio of clients. These clients include BOD’s and CXO’s of Fortune 100 global corporations, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms and ministries from emerging market countries.
    • Orient Planet Group is one of the most rapidly growing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies in North Africa and the Middle East. Orient Planet’s expertise in creative communications coupled with contemporary thinking provides unparalleled marketing communications services to its clients across numerous sectors. Orient Planet Group recently extended its strategic partnership with Stagwell global communications firm Allison+Partners, scaling their combined expertise in the region.
    • FLC is a leading Dubai-based production & model management agency that services clients across two key verticals – Print & Video Productions and Fashion Shows – while supporting casting via a range of local and international models, casts, photographers, and stylists.

    “Phronesis is excited to be joining Stagwell through their affiliate partnership program. After an exhaustive review, we found that Stagwell possessed the extraordinary talent, services and will to challenge the traditional holding company status quo with an execution ecosystem that our clients expect,” said Jeffrey Hupe, Chief Executive Officer of Phronesis Group.  “Unlike other strategy consulting firms, we partner with our clients through the entire process from strategy to execution to help them realize growth outcomes that deliver business value.  Our highly disciplined delivery and services execution model is now aligned with a global, premier marketing services holding company that will finally meet client demands by truly integrating their arsenal of services.

    “Orient Planet Group is well-entrenched in the Middle East and North Africa with in-depth understanding of the local landscape,” said Nidal Abou Zaki, Founder and Managing Director of Orient Planet Group. “As the regional affiliate of Stagwell and Allison+Partners and having maintained a strong network and long-standing partnerships over the years, we are encouraged to see more organizations engaging and connecting with their markets across a diverse population.”

    To date, Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program has added over 50 partners representing countries across Latin America, MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Eastern Europe. In addition to expansion via this program, Stagwell in January 2022 launched an international office in Singapore to accelerate its growth in APAC.

    About Stagwell Inc.

    Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing.  Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 20+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

    Contact: Beth Sidhu
    beth.sidhu@stagwellglobal.com 
    202-423-4414

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    Originally released on

    New York, New York – February 23, 2022 – Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced an expansion of its global marketing services into Africa via new affiliate partnerships with three firms: Incubeta in South Africa, SBI Media in Nigeria, and Orient Planet Group, whose footprint spans North Africa, including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. As part of Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program, these firms will collaborate with agencies across Stagwell’s network to scale omnichannel media, content, and production capabilities for leading global brands. 

    “With the cementing of our partnerships with Incubeta, SBI, and Orient Planet Group, our Global Affiliate Program now empowers Stagwell to scale our modern marketing expertise across six continents, driving further value for our clients,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “By 2025, two-thirds of African households are expected to have increased consumer power in the global economy. As a worldwide leader in culture-moving creativity and modern marketing services, Stagwell’s growth in the region will guide global brands to engage authentically with consumers across Africa.”

    The new cohort of affiliates represent best-in-class digital media and global communications services:

    • Incubeta is a digital-transformation focused network of experts in marketing and technology committed to driving business-wide growth for modern brands. Incubeta has steered digital growth for clients across multiple sectors, including retail, travel, finance FMCG, iGaming, entertainment, automotive, app development and more.
    • Based in Lagos, Nigeria, SBI Media is an innovative full-service agency with a deep focus in media planning and buying. SBI Media’s capabilities span branding, strategy and planning, PR strategy formulation, media management and digital marketing. With SBI Media’s expertise, Stagwell will tap into a rapidly growing digital and traditional media environment with a hyper-localized approach.
    • Orient Planet Group is one of the most rapidly growing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies in North Africa and the Middle East. Orient Planet’s expertise in creative communications coupled with contemporary thinking provides unparalleled marketing communications services to its clients across numerous sectors.

    “Incubeta is a market-leading specialist that uses the power of digital to unlock and amplify business growth potential. We do this through bespoke, localized digital solutions, powered by global expertise,” said Roan Mackintosh. “Stagwell’s focus on digital-first marketing solutions is a strong complement to our expertise, and we’re excited to collaborate with its network to deliver and enable our client’s growth.”

    “We are pleased to join Stagwell, the world’s challenger marketing network. Stagwell’s vision to transform marketing communications is not only in-sync with our DNA, it is at the core of what we stand for at SBI Media Group,” said Rotimi Bankole, Founder and CEO, SBI Media Group. “In 2013, we floated SBI Media Group, and the Nigerian media and marketing landscape has felt our impact. Our story, culture and impact have transformed the way agencies exist in the larger economy.”

     “Africa’s growing economies and the boom in digital technologies provide strong potentials for innovative communications to thrive in the region,” added Nidal Abou Zaki, Founder and Managing Director of Orient Planet Group. “Orient Planet Group is well-entrenched in the Middle East and North Africa with in-depth understanding of the local landscape. As the regional affiliate of Stagwell and Allison + Partners and having maintained a strong network and long-standing partnerships over the years, we are confident to see more organizations engaging and connecting with their markets across a diverse population.”

    Stagwell’s focus will initially be in the North and South African markets, with continued engagement and collaboration in Central Africa, supporting the localized needs of consumers.

    Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program is an agile solution to global expansion, enabling Stagwell to partner with regional experts to drive added value for clients and scale marketing capabilities into new regions. To date, Stagwell has added over50 affiliates to its roster, representing countries across Latin America, MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Eastern Europe.

    About Stagwell, Inc.:
    Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing.  Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 20+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

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