Full power to data and retail media: Mediaplus Group acquires 100 per cent of LAYA Group

Mediaplus is taking over the LAYA Group, and thereby making a substantial investment in further expertise in the first-party-data and retail media segments. This integration will result in a data-centric and AI-based 360-degree consulting and support service for retailers and advertisers.

Munich, 24.04.2024 — It is THE core strategic investment by the Mediaplus Group to ensure its appropriate positioning in a data-centric world: effective 5 April 2024, the Mediaplus Group has acquired 100 per cent of the LAYA Group. Managing over 22 million customer records and 72 million transactions per month, the LAYA Group is the largest independent specialist for data, CRM and retail media on the German-speaking market. The takeover was approved by the Bundeskartellamt (German Cartel Office). With its subsidiaries LAYA Solutions GmbH, LAYA Media GmbH and LAYA Data GmbH, the new Mediaplus subsidiary covers the entire value chain in the field of data-driven retail. This includes the management of customer data, the development of analytical models for customer communication and data-based advertising marketing. 

Christian Hess, who has led the company since its founding in March 2020, will remain managing director of the LAYA Group. Organisationally, the products of the LAYA Group and, in particular, its Media and Data subsidiaries will be closely connected and dovetailed with the Mediaplus units Retail Media and Marketing under the leadership of Oliver Hey, as well as Data and Analytics headed by Julian Simons. Both are managing partners and members of the Mediaplus board.

Matthias Brüll, CEO of the Mediaplus Group, explains: ‘The media and data landscape is undergoing massive and rapid change: data is becoming a key asset for communication service providers to be able to reach people in the usual manner in a digital world without cookies. For us as an agency group, investment in first-party data and retail media expertise is therefore essential. The merger with the LAYA Group represents a profound structural expansion of our business model that extends far beyond agency services. The aim is to provide retailers and advertisers with comprehensive advice and support on all aspects of full-service media, data and insights. In doing so, we are positioning ourselves for the future in terms of data and retail expertise, as well as creating new areas of business.”

Christian Hess, Managing Director of the LAYA Group, explains: ‘The LAYA Group’s focus is on helping its retail clients generate added value from data and to modernise their business models by means of data and technology, making them more customer-centric. With our three units LAYA Data, LAYA Solutions and LAYA Media, we offer our customers a coordinated and comprehensive portfolio of solutions – from the GDPR-compliant collection of data and the use of data in operational business to its monetisation via retail media. In this chain, we offer strategic consulting, technology, data analytics and operational implementation from a single source. We are excited about this partnership; Mediaplus Group will help us combine our products and solutions with their assets to create a new, optimised offering for retailers and brands.”

The segment resulting from this dovetailed approach comprises a 360° offering for retailers and advertisers: LAYA Group’s retail media technologies, data and analytics, CRM, and loyalty products will be synergistically combined with Mediaplus Group’s AI-based and data-centric technology and toolset, as well as its full-service-media portfolio. The focus is increasingly on two central business areas:

1. Data and Analytics – Creating a consistent product and data provision from LAYA’s service areas and Mediaplus’ tools and media expertise to enable advertisers to target audiences based on original first-party retailer data. The plan is to set up a GDPR-compliant data pool for addressing various target groups..

Julian Simons, Managing Partner Mediaplus: "The irreversible structural changes in the media landscape, media usage and purchasing behaviour have created major gaps in the communication activities of retailers and manufacturers. The elimination of cookies is also taking the market in a direction that we as an agency need to keep an eye on. In order to fill these gaps, we need new, contemporary and future-proof solutions to be able to continue identifying target groups and to accompany consumers along their individual customer decision journey in a data-driven manner all the way to the purchase."

2. Retail Media – The expanded business area includes consulting and support for retail clients on their way to becoming publishers. The aim is a comprehensive end-to-end offering for retail clients in terms of market standards, technological implementation, GDPR-compliant data pooling, reach bundling, data differentiation, targeting approaches, advertising formats and cross-funnel measurement of advertising impact. Advertisers receive a comprehensive retail media offering as an additional data-centric building block in their media strategy. 

Oliver Hey, Managing Partner Mediaplus: "Our media business is undergoing a massive transformation towards data intelligence and usage. What starts today with omnichannel retailers will affect all advertisers in the future. As an agency, we have to accelerate massively in order to meet the very heterogeneous consulting needs of our clients in the context of technology, product development, marketing and insight generation. LAYA's expertise is highly relevant to developing the AI engine room that a future-proof agency needs."