Cambodian marketing companies Brains Communications and Kite Digital Solutions announced plans yesterday to merge to create a formidable local agency that caters to the Kingdom’s growing appetite for advertising and digital solutions.

Under the terms of the agreement, whose value was not revealed, Brains will absorb Kite. The restructured company will retain the name Brains Communications, with Brains co-founder Tassilo Brinzer as its director and Jonathan Polakowski, founder and chief executive of Kite, as CEO.

Brinzer said that the horizontal merger came after working with Kite on a range of projects and recognising the potential of a combined entity.

“The management team has a shared vision of what a modern marketing agency in Cambodia would be, and how we’ll build an offering in today’s marketplace that emphasises human-to-human marketing around the clock, across numerous channels,” he said in a statement.

The new platform will leverage the synergies of the two agencies’ respective expertise in public relations, advertising, digital communication strategies and social media engagement. The firm will have a combined staff of 35 people.

“Our teams are extremely passionate about our work and with more than 20 years of success behind both agencies, we have an exceptionally strong platform to build upon,” said Brinzer.

Streamlining approach

According to the announcement, the two firms in the past months have streamlined back-office and managerial operations to prepare for the partnership.

Polakowski said that Kite brings with it the tools for web and app development, and video and photo production, as well as a deep understanding of the Cambodian advertising market.

“We are confident that our combined strength will enable us to positively affect all our projects,” he said.

“Many brands and businesses are looking for an agency that can help to position them in the market, and they are not necessarily going to globally operating agencies – they now go to fast-moving, flexible agencies with deep local understanding and credibility.”