DigitasLBi, Razorfish Cut Cross-Ad Deal With Google

DigitasLBi and Razorfish, ad agencies owned by the Publicis Groupe, have secured a deal with Google in which they have committed to working more closely with the digital marketing giant on behalf of their brands across its digital properties. This will include video (such as YouTube), display ads and mobile ads.

According to a news report, the agencies have committed to spending over $100 million on Google inventory, although the companies have officially declined to comment on the financial value of the deal. The collaboration also follows on the heels of a similar deal struck with Publicis subsidiary Mediavest late last month.

“The intent of this deal is to aggregate the clout of our two agencies to better take advantage of the partnership alongside Google,” says Julie Weitzner, vice president of media at Razorfish. She declined to comment, on whether there will be substantial inventory discounts involved for the agencies’ clients, except to say that “we will not be paying more.”

A joint statement also notes that the collaboration gives the digital agencies access to premium inventory as well as Google’s creative and planning strategists.

“This is more about our commitment to one another,” Weitzner tells ClickZ. “We will work with our clients to determine how can we branch out and do more creative storytelling, leveraging all of Google’s components, including YouTube and AdMob.”

Weitzner says the deal will alsoi facilitate more senior access between the agencies’ clients and Google leadership, which should create “a more cohesive multi-platform campaign.”

According to Google, DigitasLBi and Razorfish are uniquely positioned to help brands and businesses use creativity and technology to create compelling digital campaigns. “We’re excited to partner with these leading digital marketers to unlock the next wave of innovation in media and content creation,” says Torrence Boone, managing director, agency business development for Google, in a statement.

The companies also positioned the collaboration as a “pre-Newfront 2014” deal, referring to the digital world’s equivalent to TV upfronts, in which television executives and brands meet once a year to learn about and potentially commit advertising dollars towards upcoming programming. Started by Digitas in 2008, the Digital Content Newfront’s founding partners include YouTube, Yahoo, Microsoft, Hulu and AOL. The next such event is scheduled for April 28 through May 2, 2014.

Razorfish also earlier this year hosted Google’s first “social commerce hackathon”, an event with the aim of exploring social commerce; for example, selling video from within social networks, focused on millennials.