Publicis Groupe has acquired Tribal, a São Paulo, Brazil-based digital agency, which offers brand planning, interactive campaign development and advanced marketing technologies. The company will retain its own brand and become aligned with the Digitas global network.
“The acquisition of Tribal is key for strengthening our global operations and expanding the Digitas network into Latin America,” said Laura Lang, chairman and CEO of Digitas, in a statement. “Brazil is poised for significant growth as Internet/broadband penetration accelerates in the next two years. From a digital perspective, Brazil is vital for our clients and Tribal gives us a center of excellence to leverage in an important growth market.”
No staff changes are planned. Tribal CEO Pierre Mantovani and chief creative officer Renato Fabri will retain their positions and will now report to Francois de La Villardiere, CEO of Digitas Latin America.
“As we already have an international dimension, with communication campaigns in 20 different countries, joining Digitas and becoming part of Publicis Groupe is a great opportunity for us to operate on a larger scale, while maintaining our identity and our corporate culture,” said Mantovani, in a statement.
Launched in 1998, Tribal’s key clients include Microsoft, Philips, Chrysler and Whirlpool.
Publicis Groupe, which now has over 750 employees in Brazil, consists of Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Fallon and Digitas. Digitas was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2006.
