FCB Group India Acquires Majority Stake in Independent Digital Marketing Agency Kinnect

Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) and FCB today announced the acquisition of equity stake in Kinnect, India's largest independent digital marketing agency. While the agency will partner FCB Group India, it will continue to operate under the management of its current leadership.

Founded by Rohan Mehta and Chandni Shah in 2011, Kinnect is a truly integrated creative and media agency built for the now. With a strong growth trajectory, the agency has scaled to 350+ Kinnectors, working across offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Awarded Campaign South Asia’s Independent Agency of the Year multiple times, and Digital Agency of the Year 2020, Kinnect is credited for conceptualizing and executing digital-first campaigns and works with some of the biggest brands in the country, including Amazon, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, P&G Group (Ariel, Tide & Old Spice), Disney+ Hotstar, Bytedance Group, TVS Motors, RPSG Group, and more.

Speaking about the acquisition, Rohit Ohri, Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India, said: “We believe that today creativity needs to be fueled by technology and data. Our ideas must not only generate greater long-term brand value but also activate business in the short term. This new partnership between the FCB Group, India’s most awarded creative agency, and Kinnect, India’s largest independent digital agency, will actualize this vision and mission for all our clients.”

Kinnect has a strong belief that creative and media should work together in the digital world. While creativity is at the heart of every campaign, the agency distinguishes itself by conceiving ideas that are data-informed and adapted to new age platforms, which allows for maximising performance and getting the best creative in front of the right audience. The agency has been doing this successfully through its specialised media planning and buying arm, Media Kinnect.

Kinnect has a solution-driven approach to advertising and has built its business model keeping the clients at the very center.  It has built in-house capabilities for influencer & talent outreach - Kinnect Outreach, reputation management & listening - Kinnect 24/7, Kinnect Tech, and Kinnect Productions, to meet the rapidly evolving needs of clients and deliver work that positively impacts their businesses. 

Discussing the partnership with FCB Group India, Rohan Mehta, CEO, Kinnect, said: “This development represents an exciting new chapter in our journey! As part of a global network, we see a huge opportunity to learn from their experiences and apply them in an Indian context. We will continue building new capabilities and evolving our services based on the needs of the markets while focusing on delivering the most effective solutions for our clients.”

Chandni Shah, COO, Kinnect, added: “We are thrilled to be joining forces with the FCB Group. Leveraging their expertise in building brands over decades, we hope to achieve similar legacies for our clients. Together we look forward to engineering a more transformative and holistic experience for brands and are excited about the possibilities of what we can achieve together."

With Kinnect now part of the family, the Group will be better poised to bring multidisciplinary, integrated digital creative solutions to its clients. This strategic alliance of two very like-minded and culturally congruent agency groups will ensure the elevation of creative ideas to a whole new level.

Recently commemorating 60 years of operation in India, The FCB Group India has seen an extraordinary creative transformation over the last four years, winning top honors at prestigious global creativity festivals including One Show, Clio, The Andys, D&AD, Spikes and Cannes. Most recently, it was India’s No 1 Creative Agency at Cannes Lions 2020/2021.