MediaSense buys R3 to strengthen its Asian and North American presence

It’s a continuation of an acquisitive spree MediaSense has been on this year, with this move coming only months after the U.K.-based firm acquired the U.K. arm of PwC’s marketing and media arm. Though one could be forgiven for thinking the spree is the result of the fee windfall MediaSense might be enjoying from consulting on both Amazon’s and Unilever’s media agency choices this year, it’s as much to do with the firm having the financial backing of Apiary Capital, which acquired a stake in it in 2021 and is looking to grow the business.

R3, which is well established in U.S. and Asian media circles, gives MediaSense a larger footprint in both vital regions — the former because of its size and the latter because of its growth potential. The acquisition will move the company beyond media operations into marketing operations, said Graham Brown, MediaSense’s CEO.

“We’re not awash with deals in our market [U.K. and Europe], as we have seen previously,” acknowledged MediaSense’s chief strategy officer, Ryan Kangisser. “But we’ve always admired R3 and they’re very well established. It helps that we’ve been able to partner on shared clients and work closely together over a period of time.”

Asia is a particularly high growth region, with many multinational firms headquartered in Singapore and quite a few countries that offer marketing and media upside, noted Kangisser. 

“Our strategy has always been to be able to offer a more relevant end to end solution to our clients across media, content, data and technology,” said Kangisser. “What R3 gives us is the geographic depth and the capability breadth. That gives us an Asian footprint, and from a capability perspective, greater credibility in the creative, content [and] production space.”

The merged company also expands MediaSense’s employee count by 30% to over 230. R3’s co-founders, Greg Paull and Shufen Goh, will join MediaSense’s expanded executive leadership team, which currently includes MediaSense’s Brown, Kangisser, and chief client officer Sam Tomlinson, who joined with the PwC acquisition.

Added Greg Paull, R3’s co-founder and principal: “As one team, we have the ability to support brands with cross-discipline experience and intelligence as they transform their marketing organizations from the inside, and through agency, data and tech partnerships.”

On that note, the timing couldn’t be better. With tracking signals vanishing across the digital landscape and the rise of the creator economy shaking things up, marketers are scrambling to keep pace. These shifts touch everything — from their relationships with agencies to how they measure ROI. It’s a lot to juggle, which is why specialized support is more critical than ever. 

As Phil Gripton, partner at growth specialists Waypoint, explained: ”It’s clear that clients are demanding more business savvy, specialized media expertise that can translate business objective into a high performing and media strategy. The feeling is that as businesses now have to navigate an increasingly complex media landscape, the need for strategic media management has become more pronounced.”

While media management is a critical component of the marketing ecosystem, the question of whether it can sustain a business on multiple fronts depends on a few things: companies that diversity their offerings, whether its content production or data analytics, are better positioned to sustain growth. Equally, the ones that integrate media management with broader marketing and business strategies will have a competitive edge. Or to put it simply, success for companies like this is predicated on their ability to adapt to changing market conditions and innovate in response to new challenges in both mature and emerging markets.

Gripton added: “It seems that firms that can position themselves as strategic partners, offering a holistic approach that goes beyond pitch management, are likely to thrive and be attractive. This could involve expanding their remit to include elements of management consulting and transformation, providing a more comprehensive suite of services to their clients.”