The deal is the first since Barkley and OKRP merged in March to create a “big indie” agency.
Barkley and OKRP’s merger in March was all about scaling up to compete against the big holding companies and global networks that are becoming one-stop shops for their clients. The deal for Adlucent, which is Google’s largest shopping ads agency in the U.S., will help the newly merged agency deepen its know-how in the key performance marketing space and build on BarkleyOKRP’s positioning as “big indie” that can offer broad capabilities mixed with breakthrough strategy and creative.
“This acquisition of Adlucent supports our strategic vision to scale integrated media capabilities, expand our technology offering, and grow our media and data team to more than 250 experts, driving consumer engagement and ROI for our clients,” said Jeff King, CEO of BarkleyOKRP, in a release.
Adlucent’s client roster includes Zappos, The Vitamin Shoppe, 1-800-Contacts, Rawlings, and Global Industrial. It is a certified Google Marketing Platform, Google Premier Partner, Google Cloud Partner, Microsoft Advertising Elite Partner, and Meta Business Partner.
Across the marketing and advertising industries, performance marketing remains a key focus for marketers and media companies looking to drive results. NBCUniversal, for example, is focused on making TV advertising look more digital in its capacity to optimize paid search, paid social, and programmatic ads in real time.
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At the same time, there is renewed energy around the importance of brand building, which can bolster brands and help them get through rough periods.
“BarkleyOKRP fills the gap between holding companies and boutique shops, providing the best of both — broad capabilities led by breakthrough strategy and creativity,” King said in a statement.
