Agencies Weathering the Storm

At this time of year it’s fascinating to stand back and evaluate the prospects for agencies merging or being acquired in 2015.

AdMedia Partners, a New York M&A advisor with international reach, has just published its 21^st Annual Market Survey 2015 on M&A prospects for this sector. They surveyed 9,000 US and international executives in advertising, marketing services, digital marketing, marketing technology, media technology, media and digital media.

The conclusions are all rather upbeat. One quote that stands out is:

“There are lots of companies that have survived the past 5 years. Snapping one of them up now is probably a good bet – they have proved they can weather the storm and can prosper if the market grows.”

Expectations for increased M&A activities in 2015 are very much up:

So what are the most sought-after areas of interest for expansion or acquisition? The answer: agencies focusing on analytics, digital, mobile marketing and social.

Some quotes from survey participants are particularly interesting:

“A new breed of integrated agency models is forming.”

“Data-driven everything.”

“There is a desire to automate marketing, but you cannot automate creativity.”

The consensus seems to be that the time for M&A is now:

And regarding their own agencies, participants reported growth in 2015 is expected to be good:

So there you have it. If you’re thinking of exploring such opportunities for your agency, 2015 seems to be the best year in a long time...