INTERMARKETING AGENCY WINS UK MARKETING AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Intermarketing Agency, an Advantage Smollan Company, has been named Marketing Agency of the Year by the UK Agency Awards. The award show celebrates exceptional agencies, campaigns and talent across 22 categories. Judged by professionals in marketing, communications, advertising and digital from the UK’s biggest and best brands, the award show is fiercely competitive and the accolade serves as a testament to the tremendous work conducted by Intermarketing Agency.

Joining Advantage Smollan in June 2017, Intermarketing Agency is an integrated, creatively-driven and service-led agency with a focus on ROI. With 29 years of brand building expertise Intermarketing Agency has the ability to execute campaign ideas globally across all channels, building specialist teams around client requirements to offer true collaboration and expertise in brand communications, data and CRM, digital, experiential, retail, TV and video, 3D and animation, media, partnerships, content, and social media. For additional information visit www.intermarketing.com

MODERN SLAVERY ACT COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

Advantage Smollan welcomes and supports the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and published this statement in accordance with this Act. It sets out the steps that we, the Advantage Smollan Group, have taken to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking within our business and supply chain. This statement covers the steps taken for the year ended 31 December 2016 and also details the ongoing steps we are taking to ensure that our obligations under the Modern Slavery Act are met in full. The full statement can be read here.

ADVANTAGE SMOLLAN ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF HAMILTON BRIGHT

July 3rd 2017 – Advantage Smollan, the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan), announced today its pending acquisition of Hamilton Bright Group B.V., a specialist in sales, brand activation and market intelligence in the Netherlands and Belgium. The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

Advantage Smollan provides outsourced sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in a number of European markets. Hamilton Bright extends Advantage Smollan’s reach into the key markets of the Netherlands and Belgium and provide a unified solution for customers in these countries. Hamilton Bright will continue to operate under its current name.

Laurence Clube, Chief Operating Officer of Advantage Smollan, commented, “I am very excited about Hamilton Bright joining Advantage Smollan. This move brings a high quality business into the group and will enable us to improve and broaden what we do for our customers by sharing best practices.”

“To build Advantage Smollan’s footprint across Europe, we are targeting companies that are number one in their markets and share our entrepreneurial culture and passion for adding value. We have clearly found that in Hamilton Bright,” said Tanya Domier, CEO of Advantage.

David Smollan, Chief Executive Officer of Smollan, added, “We are excited to partner with Hamilton Bright who are a great cultural fit for our group and bring great expertise through their diversified service offerings”.

Hamilton Bright was founded in 2000 and holds a client portfolio that includes many of the largest companies operating in the Netherlands and Belgium, whether of national or international origin.

“Hamilton Bright has a strong history of success in improving retail sales in the consumer electronics, body and healthcare, and food sectors,” said Claudio Missaglia, CEO of Hamilton Bright. “We believe that as part of Advantage Smollan we will continue to deliver exceptional results for our clients and to increase the opportunities for our people.”

About Advantage Smollan

Founded in 2015, Advantage Smollan is a jointly-owned holding company of Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan) that provides unified sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers across Europe.  Advantage Smollan offers the industry’s best capabilities and technology along with the local knowledge to address the unique dynamics of individual markets.  The company combines Advantage’s and Smollan’s best practices and resources with the extensive experience and market leadership of each portfolio company – all aligned in service excellence, thought leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit to deliver better results for clients and customers.  For more information, visit www.advantagesmollan.com. For more information on Advantage, visit www.advantagesolutions.net.  For more information on Smollan, visit www.smollan.com.

About Hamilton Bright Group

Hamilton Bright is a shopper sales & marketing specialist, building and strengthening brands on the shop floor for some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics, the food industry, DIY, out of home and personal & healthcare. Hamilton Bright specializes in providing sales, brand activation and marketing intelligence solutions in the Netherlands and Belgium. For additional information, visit www.hamiltonbright.com

Contacts  
   
Advantage Solutions
Will Minton, VP Corporate Marketing
Tel: 949 797 3105
Email:  will.minton@advantagesolutions.net
 Global Smollan Holdings
Monique Yaffe, Chief Marketing Officer
Tel: +27 11 458 0000
Email: monique.yaffe@smollan.com
   
Bryce Robinson, General Counsel
Tel: 949 794 2204
Email: bryce.robinson@advantagesolutions.net
Advantage Smollan
Laurence Clube, COO Advantage Smollan
Tel: +44 (0)118 927 1010
Email: lclube@advantagesmollan.com
Hamilton Bright
Claudio Missaglia, CEO
Tel: +31(0)6 53 215 747
Email: c.missaglia@hamiltonbright.com

ADVANTAGE SMOLLAN ACQUIRES INTEGRATED CREATIVE AGENCY INTERMARKETING

June 5th, 2017 – Advantage Smollan, the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan), announced today its acquisition of Intermarketing Agency (Intermarketing), an award-winning, integrated creative agency based in London, Leeds, Amsterdam, and Sydney.

Advantage Smollan provides outsourced sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in a number of European markets. Intermarketing extends Advantage Smollan’s capabilities into several areas including brand and retail campaigns, strategy, brand communications, data and insights, and content creation.

Laurence Clube, COO of Advantage Smollan, commented, “This move is hugely significant for us as we continue to broaden our range of services. It’s great to have a business of the quality of Intermarketing joining us.”

“Our expansion efforts are both geographic and capability-oriented” said Tanya Domier, CEO of Advantage. “Intermarketing’s focus across consumer, shopper, and experiential marketing is similar to the service mix we have built our reputation around in the U.S. Bringing them on board strengthens our value proposition in Europe as well as our ability to service clients globally.”

David Smollan, CEO of Smollan, added, “We are very excited about the addition of Intermarketing to the Advantage Smollan portfolio. They are a great cultural fit for our group and bring great expertise through their diversified service offerings.”

Intermarketing, with over 170 members of staff, was founded in 1988 and holds an impressive client portfolio including brands from the worlds of sports, finance, and fashion.

“We’re excited for the future of Intermarketing Agency and for all the people we employ.” said joint Managing Partners Steve Sowden and Jamie Allan.

“The agency has seen rapid growth since 2011 and being part of the Advantage Smollan group will help move the agency to the next level. It was very important for us to find a parent company that had a shared vision, culture, and mindset when it came to business and we believe we have found exactly that.”

“As part of the wider group we can continue to grow both our geographical reach and our skill base whilst supporting Advantage Smollan’s own plans for expansion.”

About Advantage Smollan

Founded in 2015, Advantage Smollan is a jointly-owned holding company of Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan) that provides unified sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers across Europe.  Advantage Smollan offers the industry’s best capabilities and technology along with the local knowledge to address the unique dynamics of individual markets.  The company combines Advantage’s and Smollan’s best practices and resources with the extensive experience and market leadership of each portfolio company – all aligned in service excellence, thought leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit to deliver better results for clients and customers.  For more information, visit www.advantagesmollan.com. For more information on Advantage, visit www.advantagesolutions.net.  For more information on Smollan, visit www.smollan.com.

About Intermarketing Agency

Intermarketing is an integrated, creatively-driven and service-led agency with a focus on ROI. With 29 years of brand building expertise Intermarketing has the ability to execute campaign ideas globally across all channels, building specialist teams around client requirements to offer true collaboration and expertise in brand communications, data and CRM, digital, experiential, retail, TV and video, 3D and animation, media, partnerships, content, and social media.  For additional information visit www.intermarketing.com

Contacts
Advantage Solutions
Will MintonVP Corporate Marketing
Tel: 949 797 3105
Email:  will.minton@advantagesolutions.net
Smollan
Monique Yaffe, Chief Marketing Officer
Tel: +27 11 458 0000
Email: monique.yaffe@smollan.com
  
Bryce-Robinson, General Counsel
Tel: 949 794 2204
Email: bryce.robinson@advantagesolutions.net
Advantage Smollan
Laurence Clube, COO Advantage Smollan
Tel: +44 (0)118 927 1010
Email: lclube@advantagesmollan.com
Intermarketing Agency
Steve Sowden, Managing Partner
Tel: +44 (0)113 275 3912
Email: steve.sowden@intermarketing.com Jamie Allan, Managing Partner
Tel: +44 (0)113 275 3912
Email: jamie.allan@intermarketing.com

ADVANTAGE SMOLLAN ACQUISITION OF COMBERA GROUP HAS BEEN COMPLETED

Advantage Smollan completed the acquisition of the Comber Group on 7th April which confirms their European footprint in 15 European countries and access to many more through the Combera partnership network.  The global partnership now extends to six continents and more than 35 countries.

ADVANTAGE SMOLLAN TO ACQUIRE COMBERA GROUP GMBH

Transaction ramps up Advantage Smollan’s footprint, enabling it to work with customers across Europe.

March 20, 2017

LONDON — Advantage Smollan Limited, the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan), announced today its pending acquisition of Combera Group GmbH. Combera is a specialist in outsourced sales, merchandising, auditing, activation and engagement with operations in 13 European countries and a partnership network that extends to many more. The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

Advantage Smollan provides outsourced sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in Europe, and after completion of the Combera acquisition will have operations in 15 European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Poland, Portugal and Russia.

Two years ago Advantage, which operates in North America, and Smollan, which operates on four continents outside Europe, became the world’s leading retail solutions company when they announced a global partnership that leverages each other’s footprints and best practices to provide seamless global services for deeper, broader strategic partnerships with clients. This included the formation of Advantage Smollan as a unified solution for Europe. After completion of the Combera acquisition, the global partnership spans six continents and more than 35 countries.

“The addition of Combera to our portfolio dramatically changes our presence and scale and gives us the widest reach across Europe in our space” said Laurence Clube, Chief Operating Officer of Advantage Smollan. “Combera will also bring to the wider Advantage Smollan group its many best practices and additional reach through its partnership network which opens the door to future growth opportunities. The transaction represents a big step forward on our vision to provide comprehensive solutions across Europe and globally through the larger partnership between Advantage and Smollan.”

“In order to provide our enterprise clients with holistic retail sales, technology, and reporting solutions in Europe and on a global scale, we must have the absolute best in terms of local leadership, talent, and resources on the ground in Europe so we can enhance our value proposition through our expanded footprint and capabilities while maintaining laser focus on our legacy regions” said Tanya Domier, Advantage CEO. “We have delivered on this with our acquisitions and leadership appointments to-date, from enlisting industry veteran Hans Savonije of Royal Unibrew as the Executive Chairman, to our pending acquisition of Combera which has a reputation for excellence and expertise in every country it operates.”

“Our long history and proven capabilities in outsourcing sales solutions across a diversified European cultural landscape will enlarge the global footprint of this joint journey” highlighted Sarah Auer, CEO of Combera. Founded in 1976, Combera’s client portfolio includes some of the leading multinational brands operating in Europe. Given its history, success and footprint, Combera will continue operating under its current name.

About Advantage Smollan
Founded in 2015, Advantage Smollan is the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan) that provides unified sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers across Europe. Advantage Smollan offers the industry’s best capabilities and technology along with the local knowledge to address the unique dynamics of individual markets. The company combines Advantage’s and Smollan’s best practices and resources with the extensive experience and market leadership of each portfolio company – all aligned in service excellence, thought leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit to deliver better results for clients and customers. For more information on Advantage Smollan, visit www.advantagesmollan.com. For more information on Advantage, visit www.advantagesolutions.net. For more information on Smollan, visit www.smollan.com.

About Combera Group GmbH
Combera was founded in Munich in 1976 with a mission to upgrade the sales model through outsourced services. Since then the company has diversified in service areas and geographical coverage but remained committed to the original goal of delivering sales solutions at the Point of Purchase. In early 2000’s Combera started its international journey by successively partnering with local entrepreneurs in other countries. Through its partnership network Combera is a leading provider across Europe of Field Marketing Services and Solutions, to leading multinational brands with solutions for shopper engagement, availability, activation and auditing. For additional information visit www.comberagroup.com

Contacts  
   
Advantage Solutions
Will Minton, VP Corporate Marketing
Tel: 949 797 3105
Email:  will.minton@advantagesolutions.net
 Global Smollan Holdings
Monique Yaffe, Chief Marketing Officer
Tel: +27 11 458 0000
Email: monique.yaffe@smollan.com
   
Bryce Robinson, General Counsel
Tel: 949 794 2204
Email: bryce.robinson@advantagesolutions.net
Advantage Smollan
Laurence Clube, COO Advantage Smollan
Tel: +44 (0)118 927 1010
Email: lclube@advantagesmollan.com
Combera Group GmbH
Sarah Auer, CEO
Tel: +49 89 55107-525
Email: sarah.auer@combera.com