Dive Brief:
- Horizon Media Holdings and Havas on Monday (Sept. 29) announced a new joint venture called Horizon Global, according to a press release. The entity will be one of the world’s top media investors, with a combined $20 billion in global billings.
- Headquartered in New York, Horizon Global will focus on U.S.-centric global clients and bring together Horizon’s Blu and Havas’ Converged.AI platforms as BluConverged. Horizon Media and Havas Media Network will otherwise continue to operate independently.
- Executives bill Horizon Global as the first agency network built in the artificial intelligence (AI) era and promise a “seamless, AI-native experience” for clients. The venture comes amid increased M&A activity in the agency space.
Dive Insight:
The formation of Horizon Global comes at a “dynamic moment” for the ad industry, according to Bob Lord, interim CEO of the new joint venture. Agencies are contending not only with the rise of technology like generative AI, but also increased category consolidation that is lending competitors even greater scale. Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group, for example, are on the path to forming the world’s largest ad-holding group after agreeing to a finalized consent order from the Federal Trade Commission on Friday.
“We intentionally designed Horizon Global to usher in a new chapter of connected intelligence, innovation, and client value,” said Lord in a statement around the joint venture. “Through the BluConverged Platform, and together with our teams and partners, we can now meet the growing demands for performance-based media models and drive enduring growth for the incredible brands we are privileged to represent.”
BluConverged, the combination of both companies’ AI-powered platforms, is at the center of the new venture, with Horizon Global promising that AI will help drive insights, outcomes and transparency for global clients. Apart from the U.S.-centric global clients that Horizon Global is looking to serve, Horizon Media and Havas Media Network will operate independently, with separate client portfolios, brand profiles and new business pitches.
Interim CEO Lord in January was named Horizon Media’s first president, a role he will maintain. The executive previously worked for nearly a decade at IBM and served as the company’s first chief digital officer. In addition, Renata Spackova has been appointed to the role of global chief operating officer and will lead the “strategic deployment” of Horizon Global across more than 100 global markets.
The joint venture is not the only move in the media agency space that seeks to better position companies in advance of the Omnicom-IPG merger. Empower Media and Ocean Media this month merged to create Empower Ocean Media Group, putting $1.5 billion in media billings under one roof.
