While both Epsilon and Acxiom were in the data marketing world, they offered different solutions. IPG bought Acxiom in 2018 for $2.3 billion, and Publicis bought Epsilon in 2019 for almost $4 billion.
A second source directly familiar with both data units noted a stark difference in how each holdco integrated them.
Sadoun demanded all of Publicis work with Epsilon.
“It was top-down,” this source said. “The leadership and tone from the top made all the difference. It was very much, ‘This is the way it’s gonna be, and if you don’t like it, you can leave. But we’re going to market as a joined-up solution here, between the agencies and Epsilon.’”
IPG did not go to market with that same degree of urgency, this person said, and CEO Philippe Krakowsky was more “light-handed,” letting each shop decide whether it wanted to work with Acxiom or not.
To be sure, Acxiom has led to client wins for IPG, and its data has been integrated into some IPG agencies.
Krakowsky said in IPG’s Q1 earnings call this April that Acxiom is tied to strong media performance, and an IPG spokesperson said Acxiom “often plays a foundational role” in the holding company’s work.
However, Acxiom did not catch on at IPG the way Epsilon did at Publicis, sources told ADWEEK.
Following IPG’s acquisition, some of the holdco agencies already relied on other data firms, like Experian, to enrich their clients’ data, and opted to keep those existing relationships rather than deal with the cost of switching, two sources said.
“I thought the agencies would warmly welcome us,” said one of those people, a former IPG exec. “But they closed the door, and we couldn’t get in.”
“After a few years, they just said enough…”
Acxiom also struggled to catch on because it didn’t have all of Epsilon’s capabilities. For instance, unlike Epsilon, it didn’t have tech that let clients directly activate media off of its data, and its identity solution LiveRamp was not part of its sale to IPG.
Two sources told ADWEEK that it has been expensive and difficult for IPG to build an activation layer for clients.
The IPG spokesperson said Acxiom has publisher relationships where it can activate data for clients, and that Acxiom also lets clients activate through its Interact platform. The platform was announced Oct. 2024 as an evolution of the holdco’s 2019 Marketing Insights Engine, said the spokesperson. While MIE used Acxiom data, the spokesperson said, Interact has since centralized it and integrated it with a lot more of IPG’s data and tech capabilities.
Two different sources with direct knowledge said that some IPG agencies rejected Acxiom because their clients balked at prices and additional fees.