MediaSense buys R3 as it eyes global client opportunities in creative

MediaSense is buying R3 in a deal that brings together two leading consultancy firms that advise on marketing operations and run agency pitches for some of the world’s biggest advertisers. UK-based MediaSense already has expertise in media and has acquired R3 to add capabilities in creative services and to expand in North America and Asia Pacific.

MediaSense has run some of the biggest global media agency pitches, including for Amazon and Unilever, while R3 has managed creative agency reviews and assignments for top brands, including McDonald’s and Samsung.

The expanded MediaSense business “will collectively support brands spending in excess of $60 billion (£47 billion) post-acquisition”, the company said. MediaSense, which is led by Graham Brown, the chief executive, said offering media and creative under one roof is a logical move.

Clients are demanding a more integrated approach “in an increasingly connected ecosystem where optimal marketing effectiveness necessitates more integrated management and governance of creative, content, media, data and technology”, the company said.

MediaSense will be able to offer a “more comprehensive” service by adding R3’s creative capabilities—an area where MediaSense has not been involved previously. R3 is MediaSense’s second major acquisition in six months, following its purchase of PwC’s UK marketing and media advisory team in May. Greg Paull and Shufen Goh, who co-founded R3 in 2002 and were the two shareholders in the company, will join the MediaSense team.

Paull becomes president of global growth and Goh becomes president of APAC. R3 has about 60 staff, with 35 in Asia, 20 in the US and 5 in EMEA. In Asia, R3 China will continue to be owned and operated by Paull and Goh as per the current structure, and where required, will be an affiliate for MediaSense’s global clients MediaSense has almost doubled its headcount this year to about 230 people, after previously adding more than 50 people from the former PwC team.

MediaSense has been largely UK-based until now, with only a small team in the US. Growth ambitions Brown and Andy Pearch co-founded MediaSense in 2009 and sold to Apiary Capital, a private equity firm, in 2021. MediaSense used existing funds to pay for the R3 acquisition. Brown said: “Our growth ambitions are informed by listening to our clients’ current and future needs, and increasingly they require joined-up advice across disciplines and territories. “With the acquisition of R3, we are expanding beyond media operations into marketing operations, adding content and creative capabilities and significantly growing our presence in North America and Asia.”

This need for “better connectivity” has prompted some clients to review their media and creative needs in a more co-ordinated way, even if they are still treat the disciplines separately, according to Brown.

“They are increasingly doing things either consecutively or concurrently and some do it as conjoined where you do everything at once,” he explained. Following the acquisition, about one third of MediaSense’s business will be focused on pitch consultancy; the remainder will be advising brands on their marketing operations and providing data and analytics. R3 plans to continue using its brand for the time being because of its existing reputation for advising clients on creative operations and pitches.

Paull said: “The coming together of MediaSense and R3 creates a truly independent global advisory business. As one team, we have the ability to support brands with cross-discipline experience and intelligence as they transform their marketing organisations from the inside, and through agency, data and tech partnerships.

“We are excited to be joining MediaSense on this innovative growth journey and offering our combined clients a more expansive and integrated service, globally.” He went on: “We see the biggest opportunity inside companies.

Marketing companies need to transform internally—how they’re set up, how they hub, their capabilities.” Goh added: “In MediaSense we have found the ideal partner with whom to grow, given our shared values and complimentary service offerings, across both capabilities and geographies. “We are completely aligned on clients’ requirements for best-in-class advice and more integrated thinking in relation to their marketing organisations, external partners and governance over their marketing investments.”

Brown said MediaSense will consider other acquisitions in the future as it looks to add further capabilities, although he expects to focus on the integration of R3 and the former PwC business in the next six months. Clients need objectivity and independence in an increasingly complex market MediaSense has been growing at a double-digit rate, with revenues rising 22% from $17.4 million (£13.6 million) in 2022 to $21.2 million (£16.6 million) in 2023, according to accounts at Companies House.

Brown would not comment on the likely size of the business after the acquisitions but it is likely to be twice the size, based on its growth rate and headcount increase.

“We’re growing very quickly because complexity is our friend in some ways,” Brown said. “Clients need the advice and objectivity and independence in an increasingly complex market.” “Most companies, have a vested interest in what they’re selling to clients in terms of the advertising or the medium or the technology. We don’t. “We are completely objective and independent, and that’s incredibly valuable to clients who are bombarded every day by people selling them stuff purporting to be their advisers.” Campaign India