MediaSense has acquired R3, putting two prominent marketing consultancies under the same roof. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

The deal will significantly expand London-based MediaSense’s footprint, which is mainly focused in Europe, further into North America and Asia-Pacific, where R3’s employee base is primarily split, according to Graham Brown, CEO of MediaSense. The combined company will employ more than 230 people.

MediaSense executives said the deal will give the company more heft in the U.S. and expand its current capabilities.

“We have missed out on growth opportunities by not having a significant presence in the U.S.,” Brown said in an interview.

Buying R3 also moves MediaSense beyond media advisory, bolstering its capabilities in areas such as creative and content—an essential investment as marketers look to better optimize and integrate their marketing operations, Brown said. “We want to be able to address clients’ needs and challenges along the whole spectrum,” he said. 

For now, both MediaSense and R3 will continue to operate under their existing brands. R3 Co-Founders Greg Paull and Shufen Goh will join the expanded business’ executive leadership team, serving as president of global growth and president of APAC, respectively for MediaSense Group.

For R3, which this year has handled creative reviews for brands such as Kenvue and General Mills, the deal is an opportunity to work more with marketers on internal advisory and management, rather than external agency relationships, according to Paull.  

“That’s going to be our big growth area over the next three years,” Paull said. Brands are struggling to adapt to the new marketing paradigm of social, data, e-commerce, generative AI and mobile, he added. “It’s a huge change for a lot of companies.”

MediaSense, which in 2021 sold a significant stake to private equity firm Apiary Capital, recently advised on Amazon and Unilever’s multi-billion global media reviews. Following the R3 acqusition, it will represent brands that collectively spend more than $60 billion, according to a statement from MediaSense.

The deal marks MediaSense’s second acquisition in six months. In May, MediaSense announced it had acquired PwC’s U.K. marketing and media advisory team. There will be more acquisitions down the line, but the focus now is on making sure MediaSense is shipshape, Brown said.

“We’re not going to rush in and make two or three other acquisitions because we will fail our clients if we do,” he added. With the recent deals, “we’ve addressed their key requirements.”

Asked about potential competition concerns, Brown said the R3 deal will “raise the professional bar” in the consultancy and advisory space, thereby benefiting all of the industry’s many players.

“I hope that we are professionalizing what some people have rather derogatorily called a cottage industry,” he said.