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Dentsu acquires Swiss digital agency Namics

Dentsu acquires Swiss digital agency Namics

Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Namics, one of Switzerland’s leading full-service digital agencies from St. Gallen, joins the complex agency network of the Japanese advertising group Dentsu. If the German Federal Cartel Office approves the takeover, Namics will join Merkle based in the USA, and in future operate on the market under the name “Namics – A Merkle Company”. For their part, the Americans themselves were taken over two years ago by Dentsu Aegis, the Japanese agency network consisting of ten global advertising brands. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Merger with Merkle

Dentsu Aegis Network signed a definitive agreement to acquire Namics AG. Following the acquisition, the company will become ‘Namics – A Merkle Company’. Namics’ digital experience, creative and service design expertise complement Merkle’s already significant customer experience and marketing technology practice in the region.

An important step in Merkle’s strategy to increase its global footprint, it provides further scale and depth to Merkle’s people-based marketing capabilities, in particular in the areas of business transformation strategy, digital consulting and technology implementation across Adobe Experience Cloud, Sitecore, Salesforce and SAP, and other leading technology partners.

Dentsu acquires Swiss digital agency Namics

Swiss digital agency Namics

All Namics’ 550 digital specialists based in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, St. Gallen, Zurich and Belgrade will join Merkle, bringing its EMEA regional employee numbers to over 2000. Founded in 1995, Namics provides strategic consulting, concept development and creative, as well as technical implementation, with a strong focus on user experience. Its clients include ABB, Credit Suisse, Migros, Swiss Life, UBS, and Victorinox in Switzerland and ADAC, Boehringer Ingelheim, Kaufland, Kuka and smart in Germany.

Convergence of capabilities

According to Bernd Schopp, Namics’ CEO since July, the 29 partners of Namics chose Merkle because it best fits their corporate culture and provides an ideal complement both geographically and technologically. There will be a convergence of Namics’ strong foothold in Switzerland, Germany and Serbia and Merkle’s presence in the United Kingdom, Spain, Holland and the United Arab Emirates. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Merkle employs 5,500 people worldwide in 25 American and 25 European and Asian offices.

“We were looking for a partner in the important Swiss and German markets that expands our capabilities and our geographic footprint in the EMEA region in line with our mission to extend our people-based marketing offering globally,” Michael Komasinski, President of Merkle EMEA said.

He added: “Namics complements and extends Merkle’s ability to help brands deliver data-driven, technology-enabled personalized experiences, creating an unrivalled service. Namics’ technology partner approach perfectly complements our strategic relationships with leading Marketing Clouds like Adobe, Sitecore, Salesforce, and SAP.”

Namics – A Merkle Company

“Our promise to comprehensively lead our clients through their digital transformation requires a broad set of digital expertise,” Namics CEO Bernd Schopp argued. “In order to faster develop our capabilities and to better scale existing skills we have been searching for a partner to combine our outstanding market position in Switzerland and Germany with a complementary offering and a broader international market coverage.”

“Over time, Namics will become a Merkle brand,” he said. “However, we take a pragmatic approach and work with the leadership of each business we acquire to determine when it’s the right time to make that transition. As Namics starts to integrate with the global Merkle business, the brand will also gradually start to be integrated. Initially the company will become Namics, A Merkle Company, and the next stage will be to become, Merkle | Namics.”



Text: SCCIJ with material of Dentsu Aegis and Namics; Photo: Namics

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