LONDON, UK — Havas has announced the acquisition of UK-based award-winning, global B2B marketing agency Ledger Bennett, enhancing its capabilities in the high-growth B2B space both in the UK and internationally. Ledger Bennett will now be branded as “LedgerBennett, a Havas Company” and join the organization under Havas Media Network. Ledger Bennett is the latest strategic acquisition by Havas to evolve its operating model as clients accelerate their transition to become more customer-centric organizations.
Founded in 1985 by Nicholas Ledger, Ledger Bennett has forged a reputation as a powerhouse in B2B marketing centered around its end-to-end ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which creates lifetime value and a seamless brand experience in the B2B marketing journey, aligning with Havas’ customer-centric evolution strategy. LedgerBennett now operates in EMEA, APAC, and North America, servicing clients across industrial, tech, and services within B2B, including GE Digital and LinkedIn.
Since Andrea Glenn became CEO in 2022, Ledger Bennett has grown its revenue by 50% following Expleo, Aptean, and Indeed wins. Under her stewardship, B2BMarketing Awards recognized Ledger Bennett as the fifth fastest growing B2B agency in the US in 2023. Its progressive “Fluid Talent” model seamlessly integrates marketing talent into a client’s organization, providing the skills and scale clients need as demands ebb and flow. Its proposition has led to industry-wide recognition for the likes of its GE Digital “Mastering the Balance” campaign work, among others.
The acquisition is Havas’ latest step to diversify its service offering better to support its clients’ growing digital and data requirements as they transition to be more customer-led. Over the last two years, Havas has acquired Search Laboratory, additive+, and Expert Edge (now Havas Market UK) to bolster capabilities in performance marketing, dynamic creative and content services, and commerce. Havas also brought global creative cultural partnerships and activations agency Havas Play to the UK in 2023 and, most recently, Havas Media Network’s audience and data platform, Converged, as agencies rush to put in place cookieless cross-platform planning-to-activation solutions.
Ledger Bennett adds further scale and depth to Havas’s B2B capabilities to service the exponential and continuous growth in B2B marketing requirements and budgets, with two-thirds (66%) of B2B marketers expecting their budget to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months, according to LinkedIn. Ledger Bennett’s fully integrated offering also complements the B2B offerings from fellow Havas Village London agencies H/Advisors Maitland and Gate One and those within Havas Media Network. Ledger Bennett will also look to unlock the latent potential of existing Havas Village capabilities for B2B purposes, such as CX and ecommerce.
In 2022, Havas Media Network UK launched a dedicated B2B division, Havas Business, to formally kick start its B2B journey and currently works with the likes of 3M, JDE Professional, and Maersk for which Havas Business won the Grand Prix at WARC B2Beffectiveness in two consecutive years. Havas Business will merge under Ledger Bennett, forming a 100+-person strong B2B specialism within Havas Media Network.
Ledger Bennett’s London-based staff will move to Havas Village London in March 2024, where the agency will be headed by CEO Andrea Glenn, who’ll report to Patrick Affleck, CEO of Havas Media Network UK and Ireland.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and Global CEO of Havas, said, “We are excited to welcome Andrea, the Ledger Bennett team, and its impressive list of clients into our Havas family. Bringing together marketing, sales, customer, and product teams with the goal of maximizing customer lifetime value is going to be critical for the best brands in the next five years. Ledger Bennett brings a go-to-market solution to our Village that perfectly supports our One Havas strategy. The growth of B2B marketing continues to accelerate and will be important for B2B brands as well as B2C brands with B2B potential.”
Patrick said, “B2B marketing is ripe for disruption and Ledger Bennett are genuine disruptors within this space. Its ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which focuses on creating lifetime value, is both unique and differentiating and will bring further sophistication to our existing B2B offering. Andrea has done an incredible job at turning Ledger Bennett into a fast-growing business with immediate expansion potential and a compelling, highly scalable solution. Importantly, Ledger Bennett is trusted by some of the world’s most ambitious, progressive, and sophisticated global businesses, and I’m excited about what we can further build and achieve together.”
Andrea commented, “When we started this process, we wanted to disrupt B2B marketing. Our conversations with Havas have been energising and there’s a palpable ambitious appetite to scale B2B within Havas Media Network and throughout Havas. That’s convinced us Havas would be a great place to accelerate our growth with a combined offering of progressive B2B capabilities from Ledger Bennett and B2C firepower from Havas.”
