Today Microsoft bought aQuantive, the parent company of Razorfish, the largest interactive agency in the US.
While the $6 billion dollar move, the biggest acquisition Microsoft has had to date, is no doubt to match Google’s DoubleClick purchase last month, putting the company more firmly in the interactive advertising space.
But this should also have an interesting effect on the interactive space as well. Microsoft already has a plethora of digital creation tools it is touting like Silverlight. Leveraging a large firm like Razorfish will certainly help extend their transition from beta to consumer.
What is more interesting to me is the effect it could have on the interactive agency business. Microsoft would be foolish to not use Razorfish’s resources as its own internal interactive agency, a segment of business that many shops depend on to keep them a
float.
No doubt will Razorfish continue to do agency work integrating it into their existing professional services group. But it is also likely to put many accounts into play as I think a lot of clients won’t want their business so cozy with Microsoft.
And finally I see this as a big sign that the agency model is dead (or dying).
Update: AdAge has a nice article talking specifically about a Razorfish infused Microsoft.
Hope they don’t start peddling Expression Studio to those Razorfish kids.
Razorfish hasn’t been a valid or forward-thinking agency in nearly 10 years — somewhere around the time that some of their folks bought The Slipper Room in lower Manhattan. I’m sure it’s encouraging for Microsoft’s investors to see that they continue to remain behind the curve in the interactive space.
@Dave maybe so, but they are #1 as far as business goes, so they must be doing something right.
Wow I hope that all works out. Microsoft seems to be buying a lot companies lately.