New Delhi: Advertising agency Leo Burnett India has announced the merger of iStrat with its digital-agency Indigo Consulting. iStrat, the Delhi-headquartered agency was acquired by Publicis in 2012.
Post the merger, it will be rebranded as Indigo iStrat and will be headed by Harshad Hardikar, chief operating officer, Indigo Consulting.
Navneet Sahni and Sonya Sahni, co-founders of iStrat, will work closely with Hardikar to solidify the Delhi operations.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Indigo iStrat will have a combined strength of over 300 employees across India and will have capabilities across user experience, technology, creative and strategy.
It will partner with all Publicis Communications companies in India including Leo Burnett, Publicis Ambience, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, MSL Group, Orchard Advertising and Publicis Capital.
Saurabh Varma, chief executive officer, Leo Burnett South Asia said, “As individual agencies as Leo Burnett or Publicis has acquired digital assets over the past few years. We realized that there is a greater power in coming together and creating a combined entity. It gives scale, size and specialization. Clients don’t care whether a group has four or five agencies they seek cutting edge solutions which Indigo iStrat aims to provide.”
Hardikar said, “The vision is to be the fastest growing digital agency in India. This merger adds great strength and scale to our value operations in Delhi. Indigo has a strong clientele, iStrat will bring along a much wider client vertical across categories.”
Established in 2000, Indigo Consulting became a part of Leo Burnett (Publicis Groupe) in 2012. Its independent mobile marketing division, Thmbstrk was introduced in 2011. It has a clientele that covers a large business spectrum, including banking & finance, telecom, hospitality, entertainment, consumer goods and B2B.
Based in New Delhi and Gurgaon, iStrat was founded in 2003. It offers a range of digital communication solutions delivered through six business units, including web and mobile solutions, online marketing, social media marketing, relationship marketing, touch screen solutions and digital films. Its client roster exists across business verticals such as BFSI, Healthcare, FMCG, Automotive, Building products, QSR and consumer goods.
Source: Mint