Publicis Groupe acquires digital agency Indigo Consulting

Post-acquisition, Indigo Consulting will operate as a unit within the Leo Burnett Group.

Publicis Groupe has announced the nearly 100 per cent acquisition of Indigo Consulting, a Mumbai-based full-service digital agency providing website design and development, search engine optimisation, usability research and testing, and marketing online, on mobiles and social media.

Indigo Consulting will operate as a unit within the Leo Burnett Group in India and will retain its name. Its founder, Vikas Tandon, will remain as managing director, reporting to Arvind Sharma, chairman, Indian subcontinent, Leo Burnett.

Founded in 2000, Indigo Consulting employs a team of 160 at its Mumbai headquarters and Delhi office. Commenting on the acquisition, Sharma says, "This acquisition is significant, both in terms of quality and scale. Our objective is to transform ourselves into an agency that understands the digital medium well and develop humankind campaigns. With this acquisition, we have achieved two things - qualitatively, we have got on board an outstanding leader who understands the medium extremely well and can help our clients build businesses on the digital medium. Quantitatively, we are looking to grow by scale and now, one out of every four employees at Leo Burnett will be from a digital background."

Vikas Tandon, managing director, Indigo Consulting, says, "This alignment means we will bring our world class digital marketing capabilities to Leo Burnett's clients, while also benefiting from additional knowledge and insight on brand and creative communication through cross-training and collaboration."

The integration of Indigo Consulting into the Leo Burnett group will happen over the next 24 months. The first phase will see relocation. The second phase will comprise information and strategy sharing, and training of Leo Burnett and Indigo employees over the next 12 months. In the third phase, Indigo Consulting's services will be made available to the India clients. The fourth phase will see Indigo Consulting's talent being made available to Leo Burnett clients globally.

Commenting on the acquisition, Tom Bernardin, chairman and CEO, Leo Burnett Worldwide, says, "From a global point of view, the potential and opportunities that India offers are massive. Over the years, we have increased our efforts into this important market. Indigo Consulting, with its strong track record as a full-service interactive and technology agency, is the perfect strategic fit for our aspirations in India and around the world."