“NMG becomes the fifth independent communications group” – Agencies
Herve Lenglart, CEO of NetMedia Group, explains the reasons and ambitions for the merger of NetMedia Group and Makheia Group.
The merger of NetMedia Group and Makheia Group was approved at an extraordinary meeting held at the end of December 2022. Why this combination?
Herve Lenglart : NetMedia Group (NMG) has historically been based on three pillars: media, with 15 B2B media brands – including Emarketing.fr/Marketing magazine, Editor’s Note -; activation (lead generation and project discovery by Comnect and U-Progress respectively) and consulting activity by B2B marketing agency WeFactory. With the aim of supporting executives in their professions and connecting with service providers through information.
The merger-acquisition of communications group Makheia and NMG advisory size and will enable acceleration in building a multi-channel communications offering that meets the efficiency and measurement needs of advertisers. And this is thanks to the experience of three entities of WeFactory and Makheia Group: corporate communication agency – content and employer brand Sequoia (among its clients Casino, Enedis, Veolia and Bouygues Telecom), digital and e-commerce agency Big Youth (AXA, Coca-Cola , Gifi, Macif) and B2B2C communication agency Mademoiselle Scarlett (Pierre Fabre, Crédit Agricole, Chanel, Renault, Piaget, in particular).
So the new group enters the top 5 of independent communication players?
Herve Lenglart : Effective. With this merger, NMG becomes the fifth independent communications group after Hopscotch, Australia-GAD, Heroik and WAT. This is a trend: agency mergers have proliferated in recent years – like Buzzman and Havas, Babel and BVA, or Hopscotch and Reworld. We observe the concentration of the communication market: as proof, the number of independent communication groups has increased from more than 40 to 20 in four years, while 8 global players share 80% of the market.
What are the expected changes in activities or size?
Herve Lenglart : The new group, now listed on the stock exchange, will participate in both in media, e-commerce, corporate communications and marketing communications. The new structure has strong ambitions and wants to reach 100 million euros. The group should accelerate from 2023 thanks to organic growth (at a growth rate of 20-25% per year) and external growth with new takeovers of media, consulting or service providers. Our goal is to make NetMedia Group an international group. We already have subsidiaries in three countries besides France – Germany, Spain and the UK – and we offer our activation offers in around fifty countries thanks to the establishment of partnerships.
What new offerings do you envision for 2023?
Herve Lenglart : We will offer to advertisers global support systems in structuring their messages and positioning their brands, media coverage of their offer, activation and performance across all channels. For this, we can rely on our B2B media and decision-making audience, as well as agencies and an ecosystem of 80 B to C media brands from our partners Reworld Media. The group’s new signature sums up our ambitions for our audience and advertisers: “Human and Business Energy“.
Management “new“NMG : Pascal Chevalier is the chairman of the group; Hervé Lenglart is the Managing Director; Eduard Renker, Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
Eduard Renker’s reaction Chief Operating Officer :
“Like the new organizations of companies that break down their silos, we propose to reconcile communication and marketing, sign management and performance, information and creation. A model that perfectly matches the new challenges of our clients. The main idea is the main goal of the new group, with our thoughts on fame, image, reputation and existing brands. to exist, to grow, to create, to grow, to flourish a BUSINESS with brand preference and “high level acquisition and conversion” techniques.
