Dentsu Expands Customer Transformation and Technology Capabilities through Merkle’s Acquisition of Shift7, a B2B Experience and Commerce Agency

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New York, NY. (March 1, 2023) -- Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Hiroshi Igarashi; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today that it has acquired Shift7 Digital, a B2B experience and commerce agency focused on revolutionizing the digital experience for manufacturers and distributors. Shift7 will join Merkle, a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management company within dentsu.

 Shift7 helps B2B companies modernize the marketing and sales process by optimizing customer touchpoints and delivering a seamless self-service experience. By shifting the way manufacturers and distributors engage with customers online, Shift7 enables brands to increase sales, improve profitability, and forge long-lasting customer relationships. With this acquisition, Shift7 will bolster Merkle’s global Experience and Commerce practice and further its position as a leading experience partner for B2B transformation.

Previously a Salesforce Ventures-backed company and a current Salesforce Crest Partner, Shift7 adds strong B2B Salesforce multi-cloud capabilities and will bring more than 129 Salesforce certifications to the Merkle team. The union will expand Merkle and dentsu’s existing offering in Salesforce B2B Commerce, Sales, and Service Cloud capabilities. Dentsu has more than 2,500 Salesforce certified employees with 5,000 Salesforce certifications globally, providing customer experience transformation solutions that are aligned with Salesforce Cloud capabilities.

The acquisition of Shift7 demonstrates Merkle’s commitment to helping brands deliver best-in-class differentiated and connected experiences across the entire customer journey. It aligns with the Dentsu Group’s stated ambition of reaching 50% of net revenue generated by its Customer Transformation & Technology (CT&T) group, which encompasses the fast-growth areas of customer experience and commerce.

“Merkle’s commitment to the further development and enrichment of our Experience and Commerce practice is based on the belief that in the future, all digital experiences will be shoppable, and all shopping experiences will be digitally enabled,” said Michael Komasinski, global CEO at Merkle. “Shift7’s Salesforce Ventures backing, Crest Partner status, and stellar leadership in the manufacturing and distribution sectors will add strength, scale, and specialty to Merkle. We are excited to welcome Shift7 into the Merkle Family.”

“After years of being hyper focused on establishing Shift7 as a leader in B2B digital transformation, the time is now for us to join forces with a company that can complement and expand upon our capabilities in data, analytics, commerce, and marketing transformation to support our scale and growth initiatives,” said Andrew Walker, CEO, Shift7. “In dentsu and Merkle, we’ve found exactly the connection we were looking for to achieve that end and more. I look forward to joining the growing Merkle family, where we’ll be able to deepen our expertise, broaden the set of solutions available to our clients, and open an abundance of career opportunities for our people.”

Shift7 employees, including the leadership team, will join Merkle as part of its Experience and Commerce practice in the Americas. Merkle formally announced the creation of its Experience and Commerce practice in 2022, which comprises a team of more than 4,000 experts globally across experience and product design, technology, commerce transformation, strategy and operations, digital messaging, loyalty, and promotions. The company will be known as “Shift7, a Merkle Company” with immediate effect and will develop joint go-to-market plans to accelerate growth across both businesses.

*Customer Transformation & Technology (CT&T) 

High growth business domain including the services related to marketing technology, customer experience management, commerce, system integration, and transformation & growth strategy.


About dentsu

Dentsu is the network designed for what’s next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities and create new paths to growth in the sustainable economy. Taking a people-centered approach to business transformation, we use insights to connect brand, content, commerce and experience, underpinned by modern creativity. As part of Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004), we are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and our 65,000-strong employee-base of dedicated professionals work across four regions (Japan, Americas, EMEA and APAC). Dentsu combines Japanese innovation with a diverse, global perspective to drive client growth and to shape society.

dentsu website: https://www.dentsu.com/

Dentsu Group Inc. website: https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/

About Merkle

Merkle, a dentsu company, is a leading data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The company’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive hyper-personalized marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in consulting, creative, media, analytics, data, identity, CX/commerce, technology, and loyalty & promotions drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. Merkle has more than 16,000 employees in 30+ countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkle.com.

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For additional inquiries:

Media: 

  • Tokyio: Jumpei Kojima (+81 3 6217 6602) jumpei.kojima@dentsu.co.jp
  • London: Matt Cross (+44 7446 798 723) matt.cross@dentsu.com
  • New York: Jeremy Miller (+1 917-710-1285) jeremy@dentsu.com

Investors & Analysts 

  • Tokyo: Yoshihisa Okamoto (+81 3 6217 6613) yoshihisa.okamoto@dentsu.co.jp
  • London: Kate Stewart (+44 7900 191 093) kate.stewart@dentsu.com