Paris - Publicis Groupe announces the acquisition of leading social media agency,
Ambito5, in Italy.
Founded in 2003 by Max Brondolo, Ambito5 is an innovative
agency whose mission is to create, develop and activate social experiences -
online and offline that help grow business and brands. With 45 employees,
Ambito5 works with some of the world’s top brands – such as Costa Cruises,
Barilla, DirectLine, L’Oréal, Decathlon, Metzeler and Swatch – helping them
create highly effective social communications.
The agency will be fully integrated into Saatchi &
Saatchi Italy, consistently ranked as the most awarded creative agency in Italy
at the Cannes Lions Festival and The Italian Art Directors Club. Since 2011,
Ambito5 has been closely partnering with Saatchi & Saatchi Italy on key
clients including Toyota, Lexus, Enel, Procter & Gamble, Intesa Sanpaolo
and Ferrarelle.
Current General Manager of Ambito5, Giuseppe Mayer, will
maintain his role, while founder Max Brondolo will take on the role of
President of the Board of Directors. Saatchi & Saatchi Italy’s CEO Giuseppe
Caiazza will become Member of the Board of Directors with delegation of powers.
Giuseppe Caiazza, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Italy and
Saatchi & Saatchi + Duke France, and Head of Automotive Business for
Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA said: “We are very proud that the Groupe has chosen to integrate Ambito5
into Saatchi & Saatchi Italy. We are confident that this addition will
further strengthen our creative and digital leadership in Italy, allowing us to
develop ideas together with our clients to engage and excite an increasing
number of people around the world.”
Brondolo added: “We have been looking for a way to bring a global dimension to our
vision and services for some years now. Today, becoming part of the Saatchi
& Saatchi Worldwide network is as exciting as it was when I founded Ambito5
ten years ago. A future of great creative work together in an inspiring and
engaging environment is ahead of us.”
Justin Billingsley, COO of Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA
continued: “We are delighted to be
officially bringing Ambito5 into the Saatchi & Saatchi fold in EMEA. Their
social expertise combined with the creative brilliance and existing digital
capabilities in Italy, make for an extremely powerful combination. This
acquisition is the latest marker of our ongoing transformation across a region
that has been steadily gaining momentum over the past 18 months.”
The acquisition of Ambito5 follows a succession of key
digital additions to Saatchi & Saatchi in the last year, including
zweimaleins in Germany, Synergize in South Africa,
Interactive Solutions in Poland and Outside Line in the UK.
Photo: Giuseppe Caiazza and Max Brondolo