Publicis Groupe, the multinational marketing and advertising firm, has added the Bespoke Sports and Entertainment agency, based in the US, to its portfolio of sports marketing assets.
Through the deal, Bespoke is being added to the Publicis Sports division, which in turn is contained within Publicis Connected Media.
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The agency, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, will continue to be led by its two founders, Mike Boylin and Greg Busch, who both spent lengthy terms at the Omnicom Group US marketing and communications giant, before partnering to found Bespoke in 2014.
Boykin said: "We’ve spent a decade building the best brand experiences imaginable for our clients, and now we’re unlocking the next level with Publicis. Together, we’ll enable better brand integrations, experiences, and optimized investments that harness the power of connected media, experiences, and sponsorships to drive clients’ growth."
This formal acquisition comes after the two parties have been working together for the past year, across a range of top-tier sporting clients.
One of the properties Bespoke has been working alongside, through its brand partners, is US stock car racing's Nascar, which has its spiritual home in the same region as the agency's Charlotte headquarters.
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By GlobalDataJon Tuck, president of Publicis Sport & Entertainment, added: "The partnership has exceeded expectations thanks to strong cultural alignment and outstanding collaboration with our teams, with a shared client-first approach focused on driving outcomes across all sports and media."
The deal has been struck to give the combined group a greater ability to activate partnerships and experiential experiences for its clients.
In April, Publicis – which claims to be the largest global advertising firm, by revenue – acquired fellow sports marketing agency, Adopt, founded in 2021. That firm has also continued to be headed up by its own co-founders.
