PARIS, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
«China has the
potential to become the world's largest e-Commerce market very
swiftly, outstripping even the United States.
This acquisition means we're now
perfectly positioned to offer our clients first-in-class local
expertise.
The Groupe is accelerating our drive to meet our ambitious
targets for growth in China," declared Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and
Chairman of Publicis Groupe China.
Publicis Groupe [EURONEXT Paris:
FR0000130577] today announced it has acquired
Beijing-based Longtuo, a digital
marketing company with strong eCommerce expertise in
creative, customer acquisition, marketing
solutions and measurement tools. Longtuo will be part of the
Groupe-owned Razorfish network and will be named Razorfish Longtuo
China.
Founded in 2000, Longtuo employs 200 people throughout its
Beijing headquarters and
Shanghai and Guangzhou offices. The addition of Longtuo
will more than double the size of Razorfish in China, which currently employs 130 people and
provides e-Commerce services to clients such as Converse, Hertz,
and GM Onstar.
Longtuo serves a prestigious roster of Chinese marketers
including 360buy, Kohler, Masamaso, Taobao (the country's two
largest B2C e-Commerce portals) and Yves
Rocher. Longtuo also contracts work for Renault, providing
website development and content management, as well as traffic
measurement and analysis.
The acquisition of Longtuo will give Publicis Groupe more
commanding clout in China's
booming e-Commerce market, which Forrester projects to be a
$94.6 billion business in 2012.
eMarketer estimates the market to grow at more than 92% annually
for the next three years and forecasts China will become the world's largest
e-Commerce marketplace by 2015.
Longtuo's CEO and founding partner, SU Yi, will become Managing
Director of Razorfish Longtuo China, and will report to Vincent
Digonnet, President of Razorfish Asia Pacific and Executive
Chairman of Razorfish Greater China.
"The Longtuo acquisition establishes Razorfish as a Chinese
leader in digital marketing services," said Bob Lord, CEO of Razorfish and member of the
VivaKi Board of Directors. "By integrating Longtuo with
Razorfish, we are expanding the e-Commerce services we deliver to
our multinational clients, while providing all local and global
marketers a comprehensive offer and proprietary tools that extend
across the entire e-Commerce consumer journey."
Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe
COO and Chairman of Publicis Groupe China added: "The forecasts
for e-Commerce growth in China are spectacular. With new
advances in payment technology, broadband access and safe delivery
systems making e-Commerce an attractive alternative to retail
shops, China has the potential to become
the world's premier e-Commerce market very swiftly, outstripping
even the United
States. This acquisition means we're now perfectly
positioned to offer our international clients first-in-class local
expertise. In addition, with 70% of e-Commerce spending
in China currently going to Chinese
businesses, Longtuo opens our doors to a number of key clients. The
Groupe is accelerating our drive to meet our ambitious targets for
growth in China."
"The alignment of Longtuo and Razorfish
in China combines two growing
concerns to create a market leading e-Commerce partner for a
rapidly expanding roster of clients," said SU Yi, founder and
managing partner of Longtuo. "We are thrilled to leverage the
scale and clout of Publicis Groupe to build a stronger proposition
for our clients."
The acquisition of Longtuo is another step towards Publicis
Groupe's objective to double its size in the fast-growing Chinese
market between 2010 and 2013. This goal is part of an overall
strategy of strongly boosting revenue derived from emerging
economies and from the digital sector. In the past four months
Publicis Groupe has acquired four agencies based in China: UBS (February
2012), King Harvests (March
2012), Luminous (March 2012)
and now Longtuo. Since 2010, the Groupe has acquired W&K
(April 2010) G4 (July 2010) Eastwei Relations (November 2010), Interactive Communications Ltd
(February 2011), Dreams (May 2011), Genedigi (June
2011), Wangfan (November
2011), and Gomye (November
2011).
About Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, part of the CAC 40
index] is the third largest communications group in the world,
offering the full range of services and skills: digital and
traditional advertising, public affairs and events, media buying
and specialized communication. Its major networks are Leo Burnett, MSLGROUP, PHCG (Publicis Healthcare
Communications Group), Publicis Worldwide, Rosetta and Saatchi
& Saatchi. VivaKi, the Groupe's media and digital accelerator,
includes Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and
ZenithOptimedia. Present in 104 countries, the Groupe employs
54,000 professionals.
http://www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter:@PublicisGroupe |
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe
About VivaKi
VivaKi is part of Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris Exchange:
FR0000130577; and part of the CAC 40 index) the world's third
largest communications group. VivaKi aggregates the marketplace
influence of four autonomous brands, including two global media
agency networks: ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group; and
two leading digital marketing agencies: Digitas and Razorfish. On
behalf of its agency brands and their clients, VivaKi faces the
market to help identify and build technology, message distribution,
audience aggregation and content solutions for the future. Sitting
inside of VivaKi is the VivaKi Nerve Center, which serves as a
think tank, R&D center and testing ground to activate new
pathways for clients to connect with consumers in an increasingly
digital world. VivaKi also includes a Talent & Transformation
Practice, which leverages the scale of the VivaKi brands to develop
and deliver tools and approaches designed to attract, develop,
train, motivate and reward the world's best people.
http://www.vivaki.com
About Longtuo
Longtuo is a China based
Digital and eCommerce service Agency which positions itself at the
confluence of creative, eCommerce and digital marketing with a
complete range of digital services. The company has 200 employees
in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Their underlying philosophy is
based on a belief that in an age of eCommerce, versus developing
content around a marketer's products and services, marketers must
take an ecosystem approach, with the capability to instrument and
measure the entire customer journey through the sales funnel, from
ad exposure through to conversion to repeat purchase.
http://www.longtuo.com
Contacts
Publicis Groupe
Peggy Nahmany Corporate Communication +33-(0)1-44-43-72-83
Martine Hue Investor Relations +33-(0)1-44-43-65-00
VivaKi
Cheri Carpenter Communication Director +1-312-220-6218
Marilyn Zhu Marketing +86-10-850-755-85
Communications Director
(China)
Longtuo
Flora Lou Deputy General Manager +86-010-64518580
SOURCE Publicis Groupe