Grey Taps Into ArcTouch's Expertise in Helping Brands Create Custom Digital Experiences

Marketing and advertising agency Grey recently acquired ArcTouch, a mobile design and development company, to tap into the company’s expertise in helping brands create custom digital experiences for phones, tablets and smart connected devices. We visited with Adam Fingerman, ArcTouch’s Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer, to find out how the acquisition provides a unique product synergy for the two companies.

ADM: What is the reasoning behind the acquisition?

 

Fingerman: Brands are looking to engage with their customers across a wide spectrum of mediums. It’s not just that businesses want to reach customers in different ways - they want to reach them in every way with integrated marketing campaigns that span print, TV, the web, and now, mobile and connected devices.

 

Together, Grey and ArcTouch can offer this full array of services under one roof. As businesses define their integrated marketing strategies, mobile and connected experiences can now be considered upfront along with the other mediums.

 

ADM: What value will ArcTouch bring to Grey?

 

Fingerman: Since 2008, ArcTouch has helped over 150 world-class brands, such as NBC, Honeywell, Yahoo, and Audi, among others, connect more deeply with their customers by creating custom app experiences for smart devices. Our staff has completed hundreds of custom app projects.

We’re bringing our years of mobile expertise to Grey, so that together we can offer end-to-end capabilities to its world-class clients, to reach their customers in every way, across every medium. And of course, we couldn’t be more excited about joining a team with the rich history and track record of execution as the “famously effective” Grey.

 

ADM: What does this acquisition mean for the mobile industry in general?

 

Fingerman: This confirms just how important mobile is as a tool for brands to engage with their customers and elevate the customer experience. In the past, a marketer might be forced to think in terms of tools -- apps, web pages, social channels, print, etc. - and make a choice about which tools to use when defining a campaign. 

Then they may have to go out and find different firms with each of those skills. As those tools and skills become more integrated in to pad firms like Grey, it becomes much easier to think first about creating integrated experiences.

 

ADM: How is the mobile industry changing?

 

Fingerman: For one, the term “mobile” isn’t accurate anymore. “Mobile” phones are ubiquitous now - and we’re just as dependent on our phones around the house and at the office as we are when we’re on the go. With wearables, “smart” homes and cars, and connected televisions, among others, there are 20 billion connected things that are coming by the end of this decade.

 

All of these emerging devices that comprise the Internet of Things offer the potential for brands and businesses to connect in new ways with their most valuable customers. It’s an enormous opportunity that extends well beyond what our industry originally defined as mobile.

 

ADM: What role do you expect mobile and connected devices to play as part of bigger integrated marketing strategies?

 

Fingerman: Tim Cook called the Apple Watch the “most personal” device Apple has ever made. The smartwatch category, of course, is still very much early days. Smartphones, however, have become irreplaceable in our daily lives. We use our phones more than computers, and when we’re not using our phone, it is rarely out of arm’s length. 

This intimate relationship is incredibly valuable for brands, as they try to engage more deeply with their most valuable customers. As a part of integrated marketing campaigns, the phone will continue to grow in importance. We think the emerging wearable and connected things category will follow as among the most personal ways brands can connect with their customers.

 

ADM: Will this acquisition affect how you serve your current clients?

 

Fingerman: Having the backing of one of the most recognized marketing agencies in the world will help us take on bigger, more ambitious projects. That said, our customers won’t notice a change in how we do business. Our entire team of nearly 100 people remain with ArcTouch. The full executive team continues to lead the business, and the ArcTouch brand also remains. 

Independently of our new relationship with Grey, ArcTouch continues to work directly with new and existing clients to build great experiences for mobile and connected devices.

 

More importantly, our approach won’t change either. Our processes will evolve and improve over time, just as they always have - but our commitment to providing great service continues. If you want a premium app for mobile or connected devices, you’ve come to the right place. And if you want an integrated campaign on multiple mediums to connect with your customers, Grey and ArcTouch together can help.

 

ADM: How do you see ArcTouch evolving over the next one to two years?

 

Fingerman: The mobile industry moves fast, and we’ve evolved with the technology of the past eight years, and we’ll continue to do so. Our work with Grey is already underway, and together we’re starting some exciting integrated marketing campaigns.

 

Over the next six months, we expect the majority of our projects to be centered on smartphones and tablets as they have in the past, but later this year we’ll likely see increasing demand from our clients to create experiences for other connected “things,” from wearables to smart homes and cars.