제일기획, 디지털 광고회사 '바바리안'인수 - 펌 월스트릿 저널

제일기획이 보스턴에 있는 디지털 광고회사 바바리안을 인수하는데 합의했다고 월스트릿저널이 보도했습니다

바바리안은 생긴지 8년된 업체로 70여명이 일하고 있으며 레드 불, 버거킹 등의 광고를 담당하는등
급성장하고 있다고 합니다

자세한 계약내용은 공개되지 않았습니다

그러나 제일기획과 삼성과의 관계, 제일기획의 세계 광고시장에서 차지하는 비중, 제일기획의 역사등에
대해 비교적 자세하게 설명돼 있습니다

아래는 기사 원문입니다

South Korea's largest advertising company, seeking to become a bigger force in global ad markets and new media, said it agreed to acquire Boston-based digital ad firm Barbarian Group.

Cheil Worldwide, a relatively little-known player in the U.S. market, didn't disclose terms of the deal, except to say it was for cash. A person familiar with the matter said some of the price was tied to Barbarian's future performance. Cheil said it expects to complete the purchase within 10 days.

Cheil Chief Executive Nack Hoi Kim said his company, which began talking to Barbarian in April, was attracted to the agency by its "creativity and innovative approach."

Eight-year-old Barbarian, which has worked for such brands as Kashi, Red Bull and CNN, won national recognition earlier in the decade in part for its work on Burger King Holdings' "Subservient Chicken" campaign. The campaign included a Web site on which a man dressed in a chicken suit appeared to follow commands—like "stand on one foot"—typed in by site visitors.

Recently the agency, which has 70 employees, helped to create a special edition of Hearst's Esquire magazine that used augmented reality, a technology that mixes real-life images with graphics and visual effects.

Benjamin Palmer, Barbarian's CEO, said the deal will provide his firm with capital to open new offices. "We want to grow our footprint around the world," Mr. Palmer added. After the deal closes, Barbarian will move its headquarters to New York.

Despite its dominant position in Korea, where it holds a 13% market share, its status as the world's 16th-largest ad company by revenue and its 31 offices in 25 countries, Cheil has failed to become a significant presence on the global ad scene.

Rival firms view Cheil as the in-house ad agency of Korea's Samsung Group, because the two companies have such close ties. Cheil is the agency of record for the group, which owns an 18% stake in the ad company. Cheil's roster of clients is dominated by Korean companies such as Hankook Tires; Korail, the country's railway system; and Naver.com, which isowned by NHN Corp.

Lately, 36-year-old Cheil, which has 2,100 employees, has said it plans to grow through acquisitions, a strategy that has been followed for decades by other big advertising companies, including Interpublic Group and WPP.

Cheil is following belatedly in their footsteps because it has only recently had to look outside its home market for revenue growth. "There was explosive growth in Korea, and we were also committed to helping support Samsung's growth and expansion," said Mr. Kim.

Indeed, Cheil's biggest challenge will be finding a way to become less reliant on Samsung Group, its largest client. In 2008, Samsung accounted for about 55% of Cheil's $317 million in revenue .

The company is in the process of acquiring an agency in China and last year surprised the ad world by snapping up a 49% stake in London-based Beattie McGuinness Bungay, after BMB's deal talks with Omnicom Group fell through. BMB, which is known for its creative flare, recently opened a New York office.

In buying Barbarian, Cheil joins other foreign ad companies, including Dentsu, Japan's market leader, which have set their sights on expanding into the U.S. Earlier this year, Dentsu bought McGarry Bowen, a New York ad agency.

Mr. Kim said his company has earmarked about $100 million for acquisitions and will focus its deal-making on digital agencies—specialists in advertising on the Web and other nontraditional media—in markets such as the U.S., India and China. The company, like most of the industry, is under pressure to grab the ad dollars flowing to the Web.

It won't be easy. Cheil faces enormous competition from other ad holding companies, such as Publicis Groupe, which are aggressively scouting digital agencies for acquisition canddiates. Cheil trails other holding companies when it comes to digital, which it says accounts for about 8% of its revenues. By contrast, WPP says digital and direct marketing account for 25% of its revenues.

Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com