--- title: "Publicis Group Acquires Epsilon: Reaction from IM's CEO, Martin Kelly" description: Infectious Media's CEO, Martin Kelly, shares his views from the recent acquisition of Epsilon by Publicis Groupe and Alliance Data Systems Corporation. image: https://news.keplergrp.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/Double%20exposure%20design.%20Business%20partners%20concept%20with%20businessman%20and%20businesswoman%20handshake%20at%20modern%20office%20indoors.jpeg --- [![IM-Kepler-logo](https://news.keplergrp.com/hs-fs/hubfs/IM-Kepler-logo.png?width=1323&name=IM-Kepler-logo.png "IM-Kepler-logo")](https://www.infectiousmedia.com) - [Digital Media Agency](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/digital-media-agency) - [In-housing Consultancy](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/in-house-consultancy) - [Our Technology](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/our-technology) - [Resources](https://info.infectiousmedia.com/resources) - [Blog](https://blog.infectiousmedia.com) - [About Us](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/about-us) - [Careers](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/careers) - [Contact Us](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/contact) - Topics: - [Strategy](https://blog.infectiousmedia.com/tag/strategy) - [Analytics](https://blog.infectiousmedia.com/tag/analytics) - [Technology](https://blog.infectiousmedia.com/tag/technology) - [News](https://blog.infectiousmedia.com/tag/news) # Publicis Group Acquires Epsilon: Reaction from IM's CEO, Martin Kelly [News](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/news) By: [Martin Kelly](https://news.keplergrp.com/author/martin-kelly) May 1, 2019 Earlier in April, Publicis Groupe announced an agreement with Alliance Data Systems Corporation to purchase their marketing unit Epsilon, for a price of USD$4.4bn (£3.4bn), making it the largest ever acquisition by the French advertising group, and one of the most substantial purchases of all time within the marketing industry. [Full article here.](https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2019/05/01/publicis-group-acquires-epsilon-data-implications-reaction/)  ![Double exposure design. Business partners concept with businessman and businesswoman handshake at modern office indoors](https://news.keplergrp.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/Double%20exposure%20design.%20Business%20partners%20concept%20with%20businessman%20and%20businesswoman%20handshake%20at%20modern%20office%20indoors.jpeg?width=548&name=Double%20exposure%20design.%20Business%20partners%20concept%20with%20businessman%20and%20businesswoman%20handshake%20at%20modern%20office%20indoors.jpeg) ##### Data scale is the new game in town ![IMG_6837](https://news.keplergrp.com/hs-fs/hubfs/IMG_6837.jpeg?width=269&name=IMG_6837.jpeg)“In a media-buying world that is increasingly dominated by walled gardens and moving towards addressable buying methods at pace, the old holding company model of aggregating media buying scale for cheap pricing is becoming redundant. “For these businesses to survive in their current guise, this needs to be addressed quickly. But changing the direction of these supertankers would be too slow, so it now needs to be done ‘inorganically’. “Dentsu were first to market buying up Merkle, followed by IPG and Axciom. So Publicis buying Epsilon is no real surprise, although I can’t comment on the price tag. “Data scale is the new game in town, but not in the way that the holding companies first envisaged as they aggregated the first-party data of their client base. The reasons for the importance of data are twofold. “Firstly, in an auction environment, the more data that you hold and can execute on, the larger your advantage over competitors. “Secondly, in the looming ID wars, holding companies are theoretically well placed to have their own identity graph at scale. This can afford them better targeting, measurement, and integration with supply. “All the holding companies are taking defensive measures against commoditisation. They are aggressively buying up businesses that have a large offline data asset and trying to translate that to an addressable digital asset to be prepared for challenges to their position.” *Martin Kelly, CEO & Co-founder, Infectious Media*   *[Full article originally published by Exchange Wire here.](https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2019/05/01/publicis-group-acquires-epsilon-data-implications-reaction/)* SHARE: [![Share on Facebook](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/522195/SphereOne/SVGLogoNew/icon-fb.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/522195/SphereOne/SVGLogoNew/icon-linkedin.svg)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/522195/SphereOne/SVGLogoNew/icon-twitter.svg)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Publicis%20Group%20Acquires%20Epsilon%3A%20Reaction%20from%20IM%27s%20CEO%2C%20Martin%20Kelly) [![Share on Email](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/522195/SphereOne/SVGLogoNew/icon-mail.svg)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fnews.keplergrp.com%2Fpublicis-group-acquires-epsilon%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) More articles you might find interesting: [![Kepler and Infectious Media Join Forces](https://news.keplergrp.com/hubfs/Blog_banner1535x522%20(4).jpg)](https://news.keplergrp.com/kepler-and-infectious-media-join-forces) #### [Kepler and Infectious Media Join Forces](https://news.keplergrp.com/kepler-and-infectious-media-join-forces) [Read More](https://news.keplergrp.com/kepler-and-infectious-media-join-forces) [![To grow, DTC brands need to break their addiction to social platforms](https://news.keplergrp.com/hubfs/Consultancy-image.jpg)](https://news.keplergrp.com/to-grow-dtc-brands-need-to-break-their-addiction-to-social-platforms) #### [To grow, DTC brands need to break their addiction to social platforms](https://news.keplergrp.com/to-grow-dtc-brands-need-to-break-their-addiction-to-social-platforms) [Read More](https://news.keplergrp.com/to-grow-dtc-brands-need-to-break-their-addiction-to-social-platforms) [Back to blog home](http://blog.infectiousmedia.com) ![](https://news.keplergrp.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/Double%20exposure%20design.%20Business%20partners%20concept%20with%20businessman%20and%20businesswoman%20handshake%20at%20modern%20office%20indoors.jpeg) ### Categories - [Analytics (20)](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/analytics) - [News (49)](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/news) - [Strategy (71)](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/strategy) - [Technology (17)](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/technology) ### Get exclusive programmatic insight Learn how to get more out of programmatic advertising with our monthly newsletter, filled with the most popular content from our blog. [News](https://news.keplergrp.com/tag/news) By: [Martin Kelly](https://news.keplergrp.com/author/martin-kelly) May 1, 2019 Get monthly programmatic insights into your inbox [![IM-Kepler-logo-white](https://news.keplergrp.com/hs-fs/hubfs/IM-Kepler-logo-white.png?width=180&name=IM-Kepler-logo-white.png "IM-Kepler-logo-white")](http://www.infectiousmedia.com) [Consumer Privacy policy](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/end-user-privacy-notice/) [Cookie policy](http://www.infectiousmedia.com/cookie-policy/) [Anti-modern slavery statement](https://www.infectiousmedia.com/anti-modern-slavery-statement/) Copyright 2021