Called Together Group, the aim is to create “a new agile powerhouse for strategy, e-commerce and digital experiences”.Describing themselves as the “Champion’s League of owner-led agencies,” the companies that form Together Group have combined via a share swap in the face of a digital marketing industry that “is currently undergoing a major transformation.”

In a press release, Together said that “while the big holding groups like WPP, Publicis and Dentsu are suffering from growing pressures on their traditional advertising-dominated business model, the big strategy firms like McKinsey, The Boston Consulting Group, Accenture and Deloitte are increasingly acquiring creative capabilities.”And it added that according to research firm R3 Worldwide, last year alone, strategy firms spent more than $4 billion acquiring creative and digital agencies.“Amidst these structural changes, Together Group with its headquarters in London will build upon it members’ impressive track record with international premium, luxury and lifestyle brands,” it explained. “The group’s initial focus will be on purpose-driven and digital transformation for fashion, beauty, hospitality, other premium consumer and lifestyle brands, and retailers.”So who’s taking part? The joint venture includes, among others, New York-based e-commerce creative agency Sweden Unlimited which works with Estée Lauder, Kate Spade and W Hotels. Also on board are Folk Commerce and London-based agency Skywire and e-commerce consultancy 5XThinking, all specialists in luxury-lifestyle and fashion brands.They said that technical capability will be provided by in-house platform specialists serving all relevant e-commerce platforms and content-management solutions, including the award-winning UK Magento Enterprise Partner Two Jay, as well as dedicated partners for Shopify Plus, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore and others to be announced.Porsche Design Group’s ex-CEO Dr Christian Kurtzke, who was also founding President of the German Luxury Association Meisterkreis (the German equivalent of the UK’s Walpole) has been named as global CEO. “We are building an agile Champions League team of owner-led agencies – combining purpose-driven strategic transformation with brand-led creative power, highly experienced technological execution and effective activation of people. But the most important differentiation is our collaborative culture,” said Kurtzke.The driving force behind the concept is MatCap LLP, a venture firm managed by agency veterans Paul Sheehy and Brad Fry with Sheehy saying the new group “offers a fulfilling alternative to agency founders which clearly outperforms the traditional trade sale model.”Meanwhile Leja Kress, CEO of Sweden Unlimited, said: “For us, joining this innovative model means supercharging our agency, dramatically accelerating our global expansion with the help of like-minded, ambitious and experienced entrepreneurs.”Together Group plans an international stock exchange listing within the next 12 months with Brad Fry saying it’s “now liaising with international investors interested in investing as part of the IPO process.”