Publicis buys Razorfish

The news came out Sunday that Publicis purchased Razorfish from Microsoft for $530M. Good deal for Microsoft: by shedding the agency, their online advertising business can focus entirely on advertising enablement, with assets like Bing, Atlas, AdECN & MSN. There are some rumors that they turned down a higher offer from Dentsu, but that might be due to the fact that Publicis has agreed to buy a set amount of media through Microsoft over the next few years. Hard to imagine any other reason to turn down the extra money.

As for Publicis, they got a real steal here. No way they could have gotten Razorfish for $530M two years ago, and by being opportunistic now, they’ve broadened their digital reach. Publicis has already said that, while Razorfish will continue to operate autonomously, they’ll join Digitas, Starcom MediaVest and ZenithOptimedia in their Vivaki Nerve Center. But I think what would potentially be more interesting is to see Razorfish partner closely with one of Publicis’ traditional shops (e.g. Saatchi & Saatchi) that complements their digital cred.

In any case, between this and today’s Facebook/Friendfeed announcement, it’s nice to see M&A activity picking up again in the online realm.

 

Virtual relationship, real relationship: any difference?

I read a really cool post by PSFK’s Christine Huang earlier on the possible displacement of real-life social experiences with simulated ones.

This topic is so fascinating to me. On the one hand, I embrace all of the new, mostly digital, methods we have to connect. On the other hand, I’ve often feared that these new methods of connection have come to serve as imperfect proxies for real deep relationship, particularly in urban centres. As someone who believes that being known deeply is essential to a healthy lifestyle, this concerns me.

I guess I’m not alone. Christine’s post ends with the rather sobering question, “As we continue acculturating ourselves to new means of virtual connectivity, are we losing our understanding of how to do it the old fashioned way in the process?” Interestingly enough, I posed a similar question in my Facebook status a few months ago, and all respondents said no. Still, it can’t hurt to consider who, if anyone, knows us intimately and how we continue to invest in those relationships beyond a DM on Twitter…

(If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend watching Kevin Slavin’s presentation at the PSFK conference in April. It’s excellent)

 

First confession

After months of hemming and hawing, I’m taking the plunge and launching a blog. Actually, this is my second blog, but my guess is you’ll never find the first one…

Anyway, the gist of this blog is to highlight the cool, the absurd, and the head-scratching when it comes to marketing. From the perspective of a banker-cum-digital strategist. That might make it entertaining, at least

I may do some quick-hit, “Check it, this is cool” posts, but I’m hoping to provide some original thought here and there. Perhaps it will even be insightful from time to time.

Away we go