Invisible acquisition is plain to see for Birmingham ad agency
A Birmingham-based advertising agency is targeting expansion in China and the United States following a new acquisition.
Bareface, which also has operations in London and New York, has acquired the global content production studio, Invisible Artists (IA).
The deal sees the Digbeth agency secure IA’s Sydney and Singapore footprint, both of which will be advantageous as the firm looks to target the Far East and the west of coast of the US for new business.
The acquisition sees IA founder Dan Day take up a board director role and become an equity stakeholder at Bareface.
China is a particular focus for the agency and it said that Mr Day’s understanding and experience of the region offered it significant advantages.
Bareface will also look to leverage IA’s ongoing work for Facebook and Nielsen in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
In planning its global strategy, Bareface had identified the need for a strategic agency rather than a production company structure. It said the new, globally viable Bareface could now take advantage of creative content, design, video, data, social and technology to create opportunities.
Simon Morris, managing director, Bareface Group, said: “We’re extremely excited about the combination of complementary skill sets. It’s a fantastic opportunity for both parties and allows us to expand our reach to prolific new markets and add top notch creative, editing, 3D animation/CGI and production skills to our digital marketing, web development and social communities.
“It’s both a robust and tactical partnership and the end result is a full service, modern advertising agency that has digital at its heart but understands the importance of localisation.”
He said there would be a focus on helping firms overcome any Brexit shortcomings by opening up new market opportunities for them in the US, Asia and Australia.
Mr Day, now Bareface Group Operations Director, added: “Bareface is the perfect agency in terms of size, values and structure to build on our desire to grow beyond our current territories.
“We needed to diversify and be more nimble and agile and Bareface’s now global capability will provide that thrust.”
One of the first collaborations has been the Sydney office’s KIMBY (Koala In My Back Yard) campaign for WWF Australia, which has been nominated for two categories in the AEAF (The Australian Effects and Animation Festival).
Other clients include Bacardi, P&G, Porsche (Eurokars), Boss Design, Semilac, Coca-Cola, Foodpanda, Syngenta, London Tourism and St. Modwen.
Pictured from left: Bareface group finance director, Ben Wickes, group MD Simon Morris, group operations directo,r Dan Day and group account director, Tom West.
