Razorfish Extends Global Reach

Can interactive shops continue to grow and challenge traditional ad agencies for ownership of the big idea? Are I-shops capable of leading creative or merely executing and implenting it? If you’re rooting for interactive, good news came today when Avenue A/Razorfish announced that it has secured a 19.4% stake in a Japanese interactive shop called Digital Palette, which is part of Dentsu, Japan’s biggest ad agency. Online Media Daily reports:

In the last year, Avenue A/Razorfish has acquired NDA in the U.K., Amnesia in Australia, and most recently, Neue Digital in Germany. The Digital Palette deal adds offices in Tokyo and Kobe to Avenue A’s stable of shops in London, Frankfurt, Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Across the ad industry, executives seem well aware of clients’ increasing demand for international reach.
“It’s critical to have a regional presence in key markets around the world,” said Harvey Goldhersz, chief operating officer for MediaCom Worldwide, a media buying firm owned by aQuantive rival WPP Group. “It’s a growing part of the business, but agencies have to be prepared to meet demand.”
Furthermore, agencies can benefit indirectly from their work in markets like Japan, according to Goldhersz. “Japan is clearly out in front in areas like mobile. We see returns in the form of insights about integrating mobile with the Internet.”