Publicis Groupe, the French multinational advertising giant, has significantly expanded its presence in the rapidly growing influencer marketing and social commerce sectors by acquiring Captiv8.
This strategic move, announced on Wednesday, May 21, aims to establish what was described as the ‘world’s largest AI-powered creator network,’ further solidifying its “Category of One” strategy.

The latest acquisition builds upon Publicis Groupe’s earlier strategic investment in the creator economy with its acquisition of Influential for $500 million back in July 2024, securing access to an AI-powered platform boasting 100 billion data points and a network of 3.5 million creators, including 90% of influencers with over 1 million followers.

This initial acquisition signalled Publicis’s commitment to creator-led advertising as a “ubiquitous growth driver for brands”.

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Captiv8, founded in 2015, is recognised as a leading influencer marketing and commerce technology platform whicht brings an expansive global network of over 15 million creators, covering 95% of all influencers with 5,000 or more followers.

The platform also has an impressive 90% of those with over 1 million followers, operating in 120 countries and processing over 2.5 billion social posts annually.

Captiv8 offers proprietary AI-powered technology, advanced social listening tools, and a comprehensive social commerce suite that includes branded storefronts.

While financial terms were not officially disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported the deal to be valued at $150 million.

The CEO, Arthur Sedoun, said the overarching goal of these acquisitions is to create a “one-stop shop” for clients’ influencer marketing initiatives, enabling them to “uniquely unite, plan and optimise creator strategies that are brand fit, brand safe, with fully transparent measurement.

Publicis plans to integrate Captiv8 and Influential with its powerful data backbone, Epsilon’s CoreID, which comprises 250 million protected consumer IDs.

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This integration is designed to unify and manage creator strategies across various social platforms, media channels, and markets, driving “closed-loop conversion” and delivering measurable ROI from first impression to final purchase; the platform’s capabilities are further enhanced by a partnership with Perplexity AI, integrating its Sonar models for AI-powered creator vetting and an AI agent.

This strategic manoeuvre by Publicis Groupe carries significant implications for the influencer marketing industry. It signals a decisive shift towards more data-driven and commerce-focused approaches, with an intensified demand for “transparent, real-time, full-funnel measurement” of campaign impact.

The acceleration of social commerce, where social media platforms increasingly serve as direct sales channels, is a key trend amplified by this acquisition.

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