Deloitte acquires Spatial Access to augment advertising, marketing advisory

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (Deloitte) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Spatial Access, a leading specialised advertising and marketing advisory and analytics firm.

The move will augment Deloitte's advisory capabilities and enable brands to make more efficient advertising and marketing decisions.

"This strategic move is aimed at bringing best-in-class solutions from two leading industry players - integrating knowledge-driven sector expertise by Spatial Access with the technology and advanced data analytics skills of Deloitte," it said in a statement here.

The company, however, did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Founded by veteran advertising leader Meenakshi Menon, Spatial Access has over the last 15 years carved its niche in the industry with solutions in media spends advisory.

"Deloitte's takeover would enable advertisers and marketers across the country to benefit from this combined domain expertise," it said.

"This also enables them to have one-stop access to the wider global network and solutions that Deloitte offers to its clientsthereby driving a new era of better Return on Investments (ROIs), accountability, and performance through strategic insights, business partnership approach as well as data and tech-led decision making."

With this joint proposition, brand marketers will gain deeper insights on consumers and advertising avenues that will further help position marketing spends as a strategic business investment.

Deloitte said, it will also help brands instill global marketing best practices to reinvent the 'future of marketing'.

The acquisition announcement comes amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, which has compelled businesses to scrutinise their marketing and advertising budgets with a fine toothcomb in view of market disruptions and changing consumer behaviour.

"Brands can now have access to insights on optimising their Advertising and Marketing (A&M) spends, by implementing strategies based on analysis and impact-based performance," the statement said.

The acquisition provides a niche differentiation to Deloitte's media industry capabilities and uniquely positions them as a dominant player in this space, it added.

Speaking on the acquisition, Chandrashekar Mantha, Partner, Media and Entertainment Industry lead, Risk Advisory, Deloitte India said: "Deloitte strengthens its foothold in the advertising and marketing advisory space by enabling our clients to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing spends which are directly aligned to their business objectives.

"Our endeavor is to help brands address their business challenges by introducing value-added, and differentiated tech-enabled solutions across the A&M value chain," he added.

On working with Deloitte, Spatial Access' Menon said, "we are excited to be a part of Deloitte. At Spatial Access, our differentiator lies in understanding the key challenges of the advertising and marketing fraternity. We have an insiders' view of the industry.