IPG-owned agency Jack Morton Worldwide acquired Genuine Interactive on Tuesday in an attempt to expand its social and mobile capabilities, particularly as they relate to supplementing live events. Finalized May 1, the financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Adding digital, social and mobile to live brand experiences isn’t an option anymore,” said Jack Morton’s chairman and CEO, Josh McCall. “It’s required and expected. Although we’ve been on this path for quite a while, we need to continue to evolve and grow digital, social and mobile on a larger scale.”
Boston-based Jack Morton describes itself as a “brand experience” agency, meaning it focuses on helping brands create live events and experiences. Genuine Interactive’s role will be to add digital expertise in mobile and social to complement Jack Morton’s core capabilities. The company has a variety of consumer and B2B clients including GM, Subway, P&G and Samsung.
Genuine Interactive will be a standalone unit within Jack Morton Worldwide. Genuine Interactive CEO John Grayson will continue on as managing director and co-founder Chris Pape will take on the roll of executive creative director.
“There’s a divide right now between live and digital,” Grayson said. “We’re trying to bridge that divide by providing a more integrated experience.” To do so, Genuine Interactive uses social media tools to foster collaboration and real-time audience connections during live events, then extends that experience after the event by continuing conversations on digital platforms.
This capability is especially important for B2B clients, said Grayson.
“There’s an emerging trend in the business world right now to develop and implement what’s being called ‘social business,’” he explained, “Today, work forces are looking for more social interaction. We’re enabling professional communities to interact in similar ways that they would with Facebook, Twitter, etc.”
Jack Morton has 770 employees and will be adding Genuine Interactive’s 100 employees. Genuine Interactive’s revenues last year were $15 million.
