Isobar (digital marketing agency)
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This section requires expansion with: Company history. |
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| Type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Advertising |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | London |
| Key people |
Mark Cranmer, Chief Executive Officer Mark Cridge, Global Managing Director |
| Employees | 2000+ |
| Parent | Aegis Group plc |
| Website | http://www.isobar.com/ |
Isobar is the world's largest digital agency network.[1] It is part of Aegis Media and therefore a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegis Group plc. Aegis launched its first digital business in 1995 in the UK. By 2000 it was operating in the top 10 markets of the world. Whilst being primarily focused on online media it had acquired some small creative assets in the US, Germany and Spain. An informal global management team was formed to help spread best practice and this became an important forum during the dotcom crash to ensure that the businesses were properly supported at that time. This helped ensure that as a group they went into the crash with 200 people and came out of the crash with 200 people. When the first green shoots of recovery in online advertising were tracked at the end of 2002, the Group decided to undertake a wide ranging strategic review of digital marketing. Conducted during Q1 of 2003, this looked at our current business, the agency market, the consumer and future client needs. As a result of this a separate division to align, integrate and manage all the digital assets within Aegis was created in May 2003. It was branded Isobar on 5 July 2004.
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[edit] General information
As of February 2011, Isobar has over 2000 people with offices in 32 markets worldwide. Effective May 2010, all operating units within the Isobar agency network will incorporate the new Isobar brand identity.[2]
Agencies part of the Isobar network include:
- glue Isobar (UK),
- Isobar Mobile (UK),
- wwwins Isobar (Greater China),
- AgenciaClick Isobar (Brazil),
- Age Isobar (Brazil),
- Netthink Isobar (Spain),
- Chewing Com (France),
- Planete Interactive (France),
- Xenion Isobar (Germany),
- Kirowski (Hungary),
- AdWatch Isobar (Russia),
- IF Isobar (Malaysia),
- Whitesheep Isobar (Finland),
- Hypermedia Isobar (Poland),
- View Isobar (Portugal),
- Trigger Isobar (South Africa),
- Isobar (South Korea]
- Isobar MENA (Middle East & North Africa)
- Visual Jazz Isobar (Australia)
[edit] Corporate history
- July 2004: official launch of network under the Isobar brand[3] and acquisition of Chinese digital agency wwwins[4]
- December 2004: acquired US search marketing firm iProspect[5]
- January 2005: acquired UK creative web build agency de-construct[6] and Swedish creative agency Farfar[7]
- April 2005: acquired US web build and ecommerce specialist Molecular[8]
- August 2005: acquired UK creative agency Glue[9]
- October 2005: acquired Hungarian agency Kirowski[10]
- February 2006: acquired US word-of-mouth agency Ammo[11]
- February 2007: acquired Brazilian digital agency AgenciaClick[12]
- February 2007: acquired South African digital agency Trigger[13]
- August 2007: acquired ION Global in Korea, Hong Kong (to merge with wwwins) and San Francisco (to merge with Molecular)
- November 2007: acquired Canadian full-service digital agency Mindblossom[14]
- June 2008: acquired Russian full-service digital agency AdWatch [15]
- October 2008: acquired IF Malaysia agency [16]
- May 2010: New Isobar structure and global leadership team [17]
- March 2011: Isobar MENA (Middle East & North Africa) founded [18]
- August 2011: Isobar Mobile launches [19]
[edit] References
- ^ RECMA's Interactive Agency report (published February 2007) http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=62795.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Aegis creates international digital network | Internet Marketing News and Blog|E-consultancy.com
- ^ Article at www.mad.co.uk
- ^ Aegis Acquires iProspect for $50M - ClickZ
- ^ Aegis Group Gets Creative - ClickZ
- ^ Aegis' Isobar Adds Another Agency - ClickZ
- ^ Isobar Acquires Molecular for $31.5M - ClickZ
- ^ Aegis buys Glue London for £14m | Business|The Guardian
- ^ http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=54&id=2037202005
- ^ Isobar Acquires Ammo for WOM Marketing - MarketingVOX
- ^ http://www.adweek.com/aw/iq_interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003549456
- ^ http://www.aegisplc.com/media/grouppressreleases/2007/2007-05-15.aspx
- ^ Daily Research News Online article no. 7620
- ^ [2]
- ^ Aegis Acquires £0.1 M Digital Agency IF
- ^ New Isobar structure
- ^ [3]]
- ^ [4]]
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Profile in the Financial Times, April 2007
- Article in The Times Newspaper featuring interview with Isobar CEO, April 2007
- Advertising Age magazine feature giving details of all leading agencies., May 2006 (See pages 6 and 7 for details on Isobar companies in the US).
- Comparison of size of UK digital agencies by New Media Age magazine, early 2006 details on isobar
- April 2005 Comparison of US digital agencies by AdWeek magazine (scroll down to see details on Isobar)
- Two part in-depth interview from January 2005 with US head of Isobar documenting early history Part 1, Part 2
