Interpublic Group Sells Deutsch NY, Hill Holliday to New Zealands Attivo Group

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Advertising giants like Interpublic Group thrived for decades by scooping up top ad agencies and combining them into massive marketing-services conglomerates. Now Interpublic is unloading two of its best-known agency assets as the sector focuses more on technology and less on traditional creative services.

Interpublic Group has sold Deutsch New York, a scrappy creative firm built by the entrepreneur and media personality Donny Deustch, and Hill Holliday, one of Boston’s biggest ad agencies, to New Zealand-based marketing services firm Attivo Group, Interpublic said Wednesday.

“As mentioned on its earnings calls, IPG regularly reviews its portfolio to look for opportunities to simplify its structure and better orient the company to areas of growth,” an Interpublic Group spokesman said. “While DNY and Hill Holliday continue to deliver value and creativity for brands, their areas of expertise duplicated existing assets within the holding company.”

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Terms of the sale could not be immediately learned. Attivo Group did not respond immediately to a request seeking comment. Each agency is expected to maintain an affiliate relationship with Interpublic. The Los Angeles office of Deutsch will remain part of the company.

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Ad agencies like Deutsch, which won renown for its work helping Snapple to make a name for itself in the beverage industry, and Hill Holliday, which has done work for Bank of America and John Hancock Financial Services, have been put through a literal wringer in recent years as consumers turn to digital and social media. One of the world’s biggest ad conglomerates, WPP, has combined some of its biggest agency assets — storied agencies like J. Walter Thompson and Young & Rubicam — with companies that specialize more deeply in digital advertising or direct marketing, a signal of the need to bolster traditional creative work with an expertise in how to reach specific audience niches by using data and consumer tracking.

Under CEO Philippe Krakowsky, (pictured, above), Interpublic has shown interest in bolstering its technological capacities. In 2020, the company debuted a new unit devoted to so-called “addressable” advertising, the latest in a recent series of offerings that help advertisers chase consumers in more effective fashion by using narrower definitions of who they are and what they buy. In 2018, it agreed to purchase the bulk of Acxiom Corp. for $2.3 billion, a move that gave it access to new expertise in using anonymous consumer data and tailoring commercials to audiences based on that information.

“Attivo is a trusted partner with whom we have successfully managed affiliate relationships over the years in other world regions,” said Krakowsky. “Since 2020, Deutsch LA and D.NY have been operating as separate brands and businesses, so this particular move as relates to D.NY is a natural progression in that process.” Attivo acquired Australia’s 303 MullenLowe from Interpublic, and invested in IPG’s Mediahub Australia in 2021.

“We’re incredibly excited to have Hill Holliday and DNY join the Attivo family. Both are world-class agencies with amazing pedigrees that have made a tremendously positive impact on the communications landscape in the U.S.,” said Attivo Group CEO Cam Murchison, in a statement. “Both agencies have many iconic brands with decades-long relationships as testament to their singular focus on client success.”

Chris Wallrapp, CEO of Hill Holliday, and Val DiFebo, who heads Deutsch New York, will stay with their respective agencies as they transition.

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