Mubaloo, one of the UKs leading enterprise mobile consultancy firms, has been acquired by London-based marketing agency IPG Mediabrands, with the aim of extending Mediabrands full-service mobile footprint into the UK by combining Mubaloos talent and resources with its own specialist mobile division, Ansible.

The acquisition means that Mediabrands will now be able to deliver end-to-end mobile programmes, incorporating consulting, creative, responsive sites and app design, enterprise integration and IoT technologies into its offering.

The deal comes as a number of large marketing agencies are bringing mobile expertise onboard through acquisitions and mergers, with St Ives purchasing The App Business less than two weeks ago, and WPP picking up ArcTouch. Media and marketing agencies are increasingly seeking to build a technological advantage over rivals, which is challenging older ways of working and forcing them to bring new talent into the mix.

“Mobile is clearly the future of communication and the biggest opportunity for marketers,” said Jason Carter, chief digital officer for EMEA at IPG Mediabrands. “However, we saw that consumers are way ahead of brands in this space and realised that we needed to assist our clients to move beyond just mobile media. This move helps them to develop all aspects of mobile marketing and fully leverage the opportunities that connected consumers represent.

“We want to ensure Mubaloo continues to thrive at what it does best: mobile consultancy, building great mobile experiences and developing innovative technologies. For this reason, we will operate two mobile brands in our network.

“We will retain and continue to invest in the Mubaloo brand, building on their strong credentials within the enterprise space. Additionally, we will harness Mubaloos expertise to supercharge Mediabrands full service mobile capabilities under the Ansible banner. Mediabrands has always excelled at media plannign and buying and mobile is no exception, however adding Mubaloo to the mix means we can offer our our clients a full range of mobile services in addition to media.”

Mubaloos London-based team will be moved into IPG Mediabrands offices to accelerate closer collaboration, while there are plans for Mediabrands to open new centres of excellence for mobile development and leadership globally, as well as new Ansible offices, all of which will offer full service mobile solutions.

“Over the past six years, Mubaloo has seen exceptional growth, helping clients dramatically improve their operations,” said Mark Mason, founder and chairman of Mubaloo. “As apps have come to dominate mobile usage, IPG Mediabrands identified the need to have the best consultancy, app design and development talent. By joining forces with them, Mubaloo is able to expand globally and offer mobile transformation to IPG Mediabrands prestigious client base.”