Five Reasons Why...Publicis Groupe is bringing Boomerang to London

When Publicis Groupe acquired Amsterdam’s social-first creative agency Boomerang in 2021, the question wasn’t whether PG would expand the agency beyond its Netherlands home, but ‘When?’. And, of course, ‘Where?’.

Now Publicis Groupe is launching Boomerang into the UK, based in PG’s Chancery Lane office, with a team including managing director Pauline Landa and executive creative director, Rico de Lange.

Five Reasons Underpinning Boomerang’s UK launch

• Making creative fit for platform is the biggest performance lever for marketers and Boomerang’s experience in making content that resonates with audiences, its dynamic production expertise and its skills in fine-tuning creative content once it’s live will complement the PG offer in the UK market

• The idea is to help brands become more human by sparking authentic conversations between organisations and their audiences using Boomerang’s proprietary process that integrates data, insight and creativity at the speed of social

• Boomerang UK will be able to tap into the agency’s 200 copywriters, filmmakers, creatives, strategists, neuroscientists, influencers, sound designers and producers, significantly bolstering PG’s social content capabilities for clients in the UK

• Reporting to Clare Donald, Boomerang UK will be part of the Publicis Groupe UK production practice, adding to the strong bench of PG’s production capabilities in the UK

• The launch brings new creative talent to London. As well as Landa and de Lange, the UK team will include associate creative director Djajant Hanenberg and project management supervisor, Caroline Tenbult, with other employees joining from the Amsterdam office over the coming months

Annette King, CEO, Publicis Groupe UK On Boomerang UK

Why is the UK the first market that Boomerang is expanding in to? What is it about the marketing climate here that makes it a great springboard for the Boomerang offer?

The UK is a sophisticated market, often acting as a springboard for entry into other markets and, in many cases, a hub for global and regional business so it’s a great place to start.

Boomerang UK will include staff from the Netherlands office…what learnings will this influx of fresh talent bring with them into the UK market?

We can always learn from other markets, and new people bring different skills and fresh energy. The beauty of our model is that we can draw on the expertise from right across our agencies and specialist divisions to deliver for our clients. We’re able to drop Boomerang UK into the mix for clients without any barriers, in the same way as we have with Octopus [B2B marketing agency] and Taylor Herring [consumer PR agency], both of which we acquired in 2021, and both of which work across shared clients with other agencies, as well as continuing to serve their existing clients. Pauline and her team are already working with Publicis Groupe UK clients, which is fantastic.

And what is the role Boomerang will play within the industry’s social advertising ecosystem, a role that traditional agencies cannot play?

Lots of agencies can do social but Boomerang has been social first since its inception and the team’s expertise is second-to-none. This means they’re a step ahead of the platforms that exist today, and ready for the ones that will evolve tomorrow. They have perfected the art of improving campaigns while they are live – fine tuning as they go until they know with certainty that the work will fly. Boomerang has managed to crack the dynamic production code, delivering creative content multiplied by the power of data, amplified by technology, which they call Production3: Production to the power of three.

How important is PG’s production practice to the success of the whole Groupe now?

Under Clare Donald’s leadership, production plays a bigger than ever role within Publicis Groupe UK and is a hub for global business. As well as working with our own agencies this year, we’ve been augmenting our direct work with brands. Looking ahead to 2023, we see production as a real engine of growth.

The value of social as a marketing channel has become readily apparent, but many marketers still view it as an entirely separate audience and form of media, rather than a direct competitor to more traditional channels. What is the role of social within brands’ broader marketing strategies as we head into the challenges of 2023?

Sticking to the rules of the past has never changed the future, and Boomerang UK is an agency that’s focused on the future and on the needs of millennials, Gen Z and even Gen Alpha. Social channels give brands the opportunity to have direct conversations with their audiences. We’re shifting more into value-based marketing, where brands want to connect to our audiences’ values more. It’s more about the audience and platform focus than viewing it as a separate channel. Boomerang UK do a lot of work in partnership with other agencies.