DDB Group acquires 22feet in India

In a move to lead the development of the digital marketing solutions space in India, DDB Group Asia Pacific and Omnicom Group Inc have acquired 22feet, a digital marketing agency in India.

Effective immediately, 22feet Tribal Worldwide will be spearheaded by Vineet Gupta, managing director; Brijesh Jacob, joint managing director; and Deepak Nair, COO. All three, originally from 22feet, will report to Madhukar Kamath, group CEO and managing director, DDB Mudra Group.

The trio will also work closely with Patrick Rona, president and chief digital officer, DDB APAC and president, APAC, Tribal Worldwide, and the rest of the Tribal Worldwide network across 42 countries to deliver relevant International learnings to the local market.

John Zeigler, chairman and CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan, says, "We see this as a strategic move to continue evolving our capabilities in the fast moving Indian market. DDB Group has accelerated its capabilities to offer clients the best-in-class local digital expertise at 22feet, coupled with best-in-class global knowledge of the Tribal Worldwide network. I believe this is a game-changing event for DDB Mudra Group in India."

22feet Tribal Worldwide will offer its clients end-to-end digital and mobile branding and marketing solutions including strategy and consulting, web designing, web development, media planning, search engine marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing solutions, mobile application development, mobile couponing and mobile UI.

Kamath says, "With digital at the heart of DDB Mudra Group's agenda, we are extremely happy about joining forces with 22feet. I have tremendous respect for Vineet, Brijesh and Deepak, who are focused and determined in what they do. This energy flows into the organisation's talent pool and their work. Under their leadership, in just five years, 22feet has grown leaps and bounds. With this energy and Tribal Worldwide"s global reputation and reach, I'm excited to see what this magic of mergers can create."

Founded in 2009 by Gupta, Jacob, Nair and Vinod Moolacherry, 22feet (www.22feet.in) is a digital marketing solutions firm headquartered in Bengaluru with operations in Mumbai and Delhi. With a strong focus on creativity and technology, 22feet has worked on some of the most talked about digital initiatives in India and was also the winner of the first ever Facebook World Hack, India Chapter in 2012.

With 115 employees across three offices, 22feet continues to create effective digital solutions for some of the most iconic brands in India and abroad, including Cafe Coffee Day, Lenovo, Heineken, Parachute, Livon, Kingfisher, Red Bull, Fastrack, Titan, Nike, Van Heusen, Royal Enfield, Peter England, Pantaloons and Axe.

Gupta says, "We are extremely excited to be a part of the DDB Group family. At 22feet, we share DDB"s passion for innovation and technology and look forward to delivering best in class digital solutions to our clients across markets, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide."

Jacob says, "The agencies I have often been in awe of are generally not part of the network(s) I admire. In this case both the agency and the network get double thumbs up from me. Tribal, purely as a name along with its body of work, over the years and across the globe, is truly inspirational. The mix of technology and creativity, which they practice, is in line with the thinking we have at 22feet and therefore I think exciting times are in store in terms of the work, the learning and the exposure."

Nair says, "22feet, with its immense talent pool and client base, is today at an inflection point and strategically very well positioned to leverage the shift towards digital. We are extremely happy with this opportunity to operate on a global canvas, and we look forward to very exciting times ahead, as 22feet Tribal Worldwide."

Tribal Worldwide (www.tribalworldwide.com), an Advertising Age A-List agency, is headquartered in New York with 60 offices spanning 42 countries around the globe.

Since its entry into India in 2005, Tribal Worldwide India has built itself a robust set of clients including Rin/Radiant, Knorr, Kissan, Huggies, Emirates, McDonald's and L&T. It has also won a number of awards at various digital forums.