BarkleyOKRP, the recently merged agency that is now one of the largest full-service independent marketing firms in the U.S., is to acquire Adlucent from Advantage Solutions.
BarkleyOKRP has acquired performance media and tech company Adlucent.
Based in Austin, Texas, performance media and marketing technology company Adlucent works with brands including Zappos, The Vitamin Shoppe, 1-800-Contacts, Rawlings and Global Industrial, among others. This is the first acquisition the firm has made since Barkley and OKRP merged in March.
Adlucent has expertise in ecommerce, retail and lead generation and it creates custom paid media strategies for retail and service companies and is a certified Google Marketing Platform, Google Premier Partner, Google Cloud Partner, Microsoft Advertising Elite Partner and Meta Business Partner. As Google’s largest shopping ads agency in the U.S., the acquisition of Adlucent gives BarkleyOKRP an new advantage in performance media and technology.
“This acquisition of Adlucent supports our strategic vision to scale integrated media capabilities, expand our technology offering and grow our media and data team to more than 250 experts, driving consumer engagement and ROI for our clients,” said Jeff King, CEO of BarkleyOKRP in a statement.
BarkleyOKRP will now have offices in Kansas City, Chicago, Denver, New York, Pittsburgh and Austin, with more than 800 employees. The agency also serves brands including Burger King, Metro by T-Mobile, Planet Fitness, Motel 6, Corona Premier, AMC Theatres, Winnebago and more.
“Joining forces with BarkleyOKRP feels like the perfect fit for Adlucent—where our innovative thinkers and the power of technology combine with their creatively brilliant people to solve business problems. Their status as a Certified B Corporation as well as their industry-leading initiatives in DEI+B are in perfect harmony with our values,” said Ashwani Dhar, CEO of Adlucent, who now becomes chief performance officer at BarkleyOKRP.
Dhar is joining BarkleyOKRP’s executive team and will help lead Adlucent’s integration with BarkleyOKRP’s media practice, led by chief media officer Reshma Karnik. He will also support his team’s continued focus on clients, talent, and technology. Dhar will report to King, and they will begin integrating their differentiated performance media and technology expertise to support clients connecting with modern consumers.