Publicis Buys Mars United Commerce in Deal Valuing Agency at $600 Million
The acquisition comes as advertising holding companies compete to help brands boost sales online and in stores
Advertising holding company Publicis Groupe said it bought Mars United Commerce, a commerce marketing agency that helps brands optimize how they present their products to consumers online and in stores, among other offerings. The deal values Mars at around $600 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Publicis said it would match its information on shoppers with Mars’s own consumer data to give marketers more insights into buying behavior and how they can influence it. The ad giant also said Mars’s understanding of retailers’ media, marketing, merchandising and other operations would help its clients push their products in physical and digital locations with better campaigns.
Publicis didn’t disclose terms of the deal.
Ad holding companies have been bolstering their commerce offerings as brands increasingly seek more direct relationships with consumers. E-commerce and retail media, in which businesses such as grocery and big-box chains offer advertisers ways to reach consumers using customer data, have seen explosive growth in recent years.
Paris-based Publicis, which owns agencies including Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi, has cited its commerce offerings as a growth driver in recent years. In 2022, it acquired Profitero, an e-commerce software company that provides analytics for brands, including helping clients compare prices with competitors and monitor product availability.
But Publicis’s competitors also have made big bets in the commerce space. Last year, Omnicom Group said it would acquire Flywheel Digital, a company that helps brands sell on digital marketplaces such as those run by Walmart and Amazon, for a net cash purchase price of about $835 million, in what Omicom said then was its biggest acquisition ever.
Michigan-based Mars employs more than 1,000 people globally.