WARSAW & KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VML, one of the world’s leading digital marketing agencies and part of the Y&R network, today announced it has acquired a minority stake in Heureka Group, a top Polish interactive agency. The Heureka Group has offices in Warsaw and Krakow, with a staff of more than 150 people. This is VML’s largest agency investment to date, now with more than 1,300 employees worldwide.
“This is a strategic move on our part to strengthen VML’s European footprint, and it is part of a larger global expansion in 2013 and beyond,” said Jon Cook, VML CEO and president. “We’re proud to welcome Heureka and Pride & Glory to the VML family and broader Y&R family. We continue to look for opportunities to support our clients and also grow organically across the globe. Finding not just the right companies but the right people who can embrace and be champions of the VML culture will continue to be a priority.”
VML agreed to acquire a stake in Heureka Group to strengthen its offering in Europe and is indicative of its plans for European expansion. The Heureka Group is a full-service interactive advertising agency and consists of two main creative agencies, Heureka and Pride & Glory, and a proprietary social analytics tool called Brand Fibres.
The Heureka Group’s long-term client partners include Orange, Philips, Microsoft, Danone Group, Bacardi-Martini as well as several leading Polish brands such as PZU (the largest Polish insurance company) and mBank (a leading Polish bank). The group is also one of the most award-winning interactive groups in Poland, having been named the Best Online Group in Poland in 2011 by Media & Marketing Poland and Best Interactive Agency in 2011 and 2012 by Media & Marketing Poland and by the MIXX Award Jury.
The Heureka Group will be rebranded as VML and locally the agency will be established as VML Poland and work in partnership with sister WPP agency Y&R Poland. The official launch of VML Poland took place at this year’s IAB Poland conference on June 5-6, 2013. It will be the agency’s largest office in Europe.
This milestone continues the strategy of VML’s global expansion and partnership with Y&R Advertising to create an organically connected global digital network.
In addition, the team will serve as a regional hub offering both VML and Y&R country offices full digital services. Following the transaction, VML Poland’s new key leadership is Dariusz Andrian, chief executive officer, Piotr Friedberg, chief operating officer, Michal Wolniak, chief strategy officer, and Dawid Szczepaniak, executive creative director. They will report to Simon Milliship, executive creative director and managing director, VML EMEA.
“Poland is a burgeoning digital advertising market and the Heureka Group represents the strongest interactive offering in the market. We’re excited to begin a new chapter as part of the globally renowned VML network, said Andrian. “It’s a great opportunity to continue our growth and excellent track record of award-winning work by partnering with a leading global digital agency. We look forward to exploring the opportunities to support our clients globally.”
Poland is an emerging and strong economy despite economic turmoil throughout the rest of Europe. The digital advertising market in Poland has seen dramatic growth over the last two years, with the most substantial growth in mobile. With a population of 38.5 million, digital penetration has reached 57 percent in Poland.
In 2012, mobile spending rose 135 percent with video increasing by 65 percent and SEM by 20 percent over 2011. In 2011, online/digital advertising spend was at $616 million USD with a significant uptick in 2012 with total online/digital advertising spend of $679 million USD. (Sources: PwC AdEx and IAB Poland)
For more information on VML Poland, visit: poland.vml.com.
About VML
VML is a global digital marketing agency with major operations on five continents. Since its founding in 1992, VML has been dedicated to delivering creative solutions at the intersection of marketing and technology.
VML engineers best-in-class digital experiences for some of the most respected and recognized brands in the world, including SAB Miller brands Coors and Coors Light, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, English Premier League, Gatorade, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Kashi, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, SAP, Southwest Airlines, T-Mobile, U.S. Bank, Wendy’s, Western Union and Xerox.
With a successful track record in digital marketing, VML was recognized by Ad Age as a Standout Shop in 2012, and was the recipient of seven Cannes Lions awards last year.†Additionally, VML was recognized as a Strong Performer in the Forrester Wave™: U.S. Digital Agencies — Mobile Marketing Strategy and Execution, Q1 2012.
VML has principal offices in Kansas City, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Sao Paulo, London, Milan, Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, and Jakarta. VML and Y&R Advertising form Y&R, a member of WPP. VML has been part of WPP since 2001. Learn more at vml.com.
