As Holding Companies Spend Big on Data, IPG Unveils ConneCXions

First up was Dentsu Aegis Network in 2016 with a billion-dollar purchase of a majority stake in Merkle. Then came IPG putting up $2.3 billion on Acxiom in 2018, and then, there was Publicis forking over $4.4 billion for rival Epsilon.

Opinions vary when it comes to the success of these big-ticket acquisitions. But today, IPG’s Acxiom has something to show for it: the launch of ConneCXions, the result of a two-year integration effort.

Acxiom claims its ConneCXions portfolio bridges the gap between ad tech and mar tech to help IPG clients better optimize marketing efforts across paid-for, owned and earned media channels. That’s a growing challenge as consumption fragments across platforms.

ConneCXions also allows Acxiom to better partner with IPG cohorts such as Kinesso and Matterkind to help advertisers curate available data and then execute their marketing plan, presumably as an up-sell. The full suite of ConneCXions services are:

• Audience Insights and Strategy
• Advanced Media Analytics
• Addressable Advertising
• Digital Platform Services
• Consulting and Advisory Services

“Companies are now seriously considering how they gather, integrate and activate enterprise insights and are increasingly seeking more integrated solutions,” said Chad Engelgau, Acxiom CEO, in a statement.

Engelgau told Adweek, “Acxiom solutions, under Real ID suite, is focused on creating a unique identifier for the brand that traverses both the online and offline space. What’s important is that brands take control over the identity resolution and the mastering of all their data into their own identity graph.”

Arun Kumar, chief data and marketing technology officer at IPG, said, “By bringing together Acxiom’s customer intelligence capabilities with Kinesso and Matterkind solutions, clients are in a position to bring their media, digital and offline marketing together and break down the silos that limit marketing performance.”