Aegis Forms UK’s Largest Online Media Buying Point
Aegis has created the UK’s largest online buying point following the launch of a new digital media agency called Diffiniti to replace the ageing Carat Interactive brand.
The new agency, which has been created in response to the growing role of new media in the marketing mix, will handle billings in excess of £34 million for its own portfolio of clients including AOL, HBOS, Teletext and Coca-Cola.
Diffiniti will be led by Robert Horler, the former managing director of Carat International. He will assume a dual role as director of the rebranded agency and head of the Isobar, the international media network that was created in July to integrate Aegis Media’s £564 million a year digital and interactive advertising business under a single umbrella brand (see Aegis Creates Global Network For Digital Marketing).
Horler will report directly to Nigel Sharrocks, chief executive of Aegis Media UK, who said: “The growth in digital media is behind the creation of Isobar and the subsequent launch of Diffiniti, which are part of the first stage of an ongoing programme of development and expansion of our online and digital marketing capabilities.”
He added: “Robert is one of the most experienced digital marketing practitioners in the UK and, along with the rest of the UK team, has worked closely with our clients over recent years to help them understand and exploit the marketing opportunities that digital media has created.”
Diffiniti will offer clients a range of affiliate and new media solutions, as well as services in the rapidly expanding areas of search and mobile marketing. It will build on the work done by Carat Interactive, which was launched in 1995 to cater for the emerging new media market.
The rebranded media agency will come under the global Isobar umbrella, which unifies the 18 companies that Aegis has acquired during its push into the digital advertising market. It operates in 19 countries and provides services for more than 350 clients worldwide.
Digital media is rapidly becoming a more important part of the marketing mix and Aegis estimates that by 2007 more than half of all media consumption will be digital. The latest figures from the IAB show that UK online advertising beat all records last year with spending reaching more than £350 million (see UK Online Advertising Spend Beats All Records).
Aegis Group: 020 7070 7700 www.aegisplc.com
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