Left to right: Alistair Parrington and Laura-May Coope, Social Life; Rob Pierre, Jellyfish
In its first acquisition since receiving investment from the French group Fimalac last month, London-based digital ad agency Jellyfish has bought creative agency Social Life.
Social Life specialises in creative social content for entertainment brands such as Netflix and Disney. Co-founded in 2014 by Laura-May Coope and Alistair Parrington – both former BBC Radio 1 producers – the agency has 50 employees in London, Los Angeles and Amsterdam.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, Jellyfish said Social Life is “at the forefront of the revolution in media consumption”, as audiences turn from linear TV to streaming on-demand services.
“Social Life is a business that understands the digital ecosystem natively,” Rob Pierre, CEO at Jellyfish, added.
“Like Jellyfish, it’s been built from the ground up, through a deep understanding of the changes in how we consume media. At Jellyfish we aim to be at the forefront of digital and acquiring a fast-growing specialist like Social Life helps ensure we remain there. We’re excited by the opportunities that this move will bring to clients.”
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The Social Life team will continue to be led by Coope and Parrington, who added: “On meeting Rob and Chris Lee (CFO) for the first time, we knew instantly that we’d be a great match for Jellyfish.
“We saw an opportunity to deliver world-class social experiences on a global scale and we took it. Our mutual passion for innovating within the industry and ambition for growth make this an ideal match and we look forward to continuing our expansion story as part of the Jellyfish Group.”
Fimalac, the French group owned by billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, bought a majority stake in Jellyfish last month.
The group’s data-driven specialist Tradelab has been integrated into Jellyfish as part of the deal, giving the agency a presence in new markets including France, Germany, Italy and Brazil. The combined entity has a market value of approximately £500m, with the ambition to become a multi billion market cap company.
Founded in 2005, Jellyfish works with brands including Uber, eBay, Disney, Spotify, Nestlé, Ford, Aviva and ASOS, acting either as a consultancy, agency, training or technology partner.
