Publicis Groupe UK launches LeSHOP – its first creative agency specialising in commerce
- September 30, 2024
Publicis Groupe UK has announced today (Monday 30th September) the launch of LeSHOP, a creative agency specialising in building brands in the commerce space.
In an era where every moment is shoppable, LeSHOP’s offering, which includes brand activation, retail experience and omnichannel marketing, will help clients seamlessly integrate brand and commerce. The new agency seeks to make brands unmissable wherever and whenever a purchase decision is made, to drive growth in both brand equity and commercial performance for clients.
Bringing together expertise from across Publicis Groupe UK and born out of Publicis London, previously Publicis•Poke, LeSHOP brings together brand, commerce and CRM with a team of more than 80 specialists working across 20 client brands at launch. LeSHOP has offices in London and Dublin and founding clients include BT:EE, Nomad Foods and OVO.
The creative shop will be led by Amanda Farmer. Since joining Publicis•Poke in 2022, now Publicis London, Farmer has led the agency’s commerce offering as Chief Client Officer. Whilst in the role she has driven impressive growth, increasing revenue and doubling the size of her team. Prior to joining Publicis Groupe UK, Farmer was Chief Client Officer at WPP’s ‘The Pharm’, following five years at VMLY&R (now VML), latterly as Managing Director.
Amanda Farmer, CEO, LeSHOP said: “We’re in a new frontier of creativity where commerce isn’t just the transactional end of a traditional marketing funnel, today everything can be a commerce experience. Our mission with LeSHOP is to bring creativity to build brands that are not just existing in commerce, but are designed for it.”
Farmer is joined by Mark Jenkins as Chief Strategy Officer, Gabriela Lungu as Chief Creative Officer and Maria McDowell as Operations Director. The executive leadership team has been working together since 2023 to form the new agency.
LeSHOP will bring creativity to help clients develop best in class commerce brands, working as part of the Publicis Commerce practice led by Steve Ricketts, Chief Commerce Officer.
Consumers’ buying behaviour has changed dramatically in recent years, creating a new creative landscape for commerce. LeSHOP will deliver creative storytelling across the entire customer journey that is rooted in behavioural insights, in order to drive sales and strengthen client brands.
The launch of LeSHOP signals Publicis Groupe UK’s further commitment to scaling commerce opportunities for clients and follows Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of Mars United, the world’s largest independent commerce marketing company. Mars helps marketers make their products top choices in both online and offline shopping through its retail consultancy, commerce media expertise, and proprietary shopper intelligence platform.