Unlimited Group agencies Prophecy Unlimited and DirectionGroup Unlimited are to be integrated into customer engagement agency TMW Unlimited, allowing the merged entity to offer integrated business-to-consumer and business-to-business services for clients.
Prophecy is a 150-strong CRM and retail support agency based in Bristol, while DirectionGroup is a B2B shop that was acquired by Unlimited in 2019.
Tim Bonnet, president of Unlimited, has been leading Prophecy, while Trish Harriss and Debbie Bough are the joint managing directors of DirectionGroup. An Unlimited spokesperson confirmed that they would all be involved in the integrated operation in a management capacity, while a "newly formed executive leadership team will steer TMW Unlimited", to be finalised in the coming weeks.
The process will not result in job losses, with Unlimited insistent that the move was not about cutting costs.
The agencies' integration into TMW will take place on 1 April. Unlimited said that the joining of the agencies would create "an environment of seamless integration for clients".
The move comes in the wake of several new-business wins for TMW, including London & Partners, the Department for International Trade and Travelzoo, as well as additional business from existing client Sony.
Chris Mellish, who was appointed chief executive of TMW in August after the departure of Chris Pearce earlier that year, will oversee the combined shop, which will have a staff of 450 across offices in London, Bristol and Reading.
Tim Hassett, Unlimited chief executive, said: "In bringing together three of our core specialist agencies, we are strengthening our offering for clients and have built a world-class team made up of diverse and dynamic talent. This is a natural step in the evolution of Unlimited and one that is underpinned by our commitment to provide clients with truly integrated solutions."
Mellish added: "We combine our deep expertise in the complexity and plumbing of marketing with the best creative thinking. Our integration with Prophecy Unlimited and DirectionGroup Unlimited only serves to strengthen TMW Unlimited’s existing proposition for clients, adding best-in-class brand activation and B2B marketing to our offering."
The merger will come a year after a restruture in which Unlimited grouped its 27 agencies into seven disciplines: health, customer engagement, brand, digital transformation, B2B and technology, CRM and acquisition, and insight and analytics. Each of these sections was aligned with one of the group's "power brands", two of which were TMW and Prophecy.
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