Publicis Groupe snaps up mobile agency

Publicis Groupe has acquired global mobile agency Monterosa.Monterosa will keep its name and continue to be run by co-founder Carl Norberg, who will report to BBH Group's CEO, Gwyn Jones (pictured).The partnership will help Monterosa scale up with access to other ad agency partners throughout the Publicis Group network including BBH.With Monterosa's expertise in mobile, the network hopes to enable BBH with a core specialty in mobile sector, which is one of the fastest growing media channels.According to eMarketer, worldwide mobile-ad spending will reach US$6.4 billion in 2012 and more than US$23.6 billion by 2016.Monterosa was founded in 2009 by Johan Hemminger, Johan Ståhle, Anton Holmquist and Carl Norberg. It has offices in New York, Singapore and is headquartered in Stockholm.The agency's 30-strong team works with clients such as Carlsberg, Google, Mercedes Benz, Samsung and Vodafone."The ubiquity and intimacy of smartphones make mobile campaigns an entirely new way to communicate with consumers," Gwyn Jones, CEO of BBH Group said.Jones added that mobile ads can be useful and pertinent but they can also be perceived by consumers as disruptive and hence it is vital that agencies help clients develop campaigns that are not just technically seamless, but also friendly and relevant.Earlier this year, Publicis Groupe  held a 49% stake in BBH also snapped up the remaining share, making BBH a Publicis Groupe agency.