Publicis Creates Dedicated Mobile Arm With Phonevalley Acquisition

French advertising services group Publicis is continuing its digital acquisitions, buying Paris-based Phonevalley, a mobile marketing and communications agency, for an undisclosed sum. Seven-year-old Phonevalley, with over 60 staff, organises SMS, MMS and WAP marketing campaigns for the likes of Paramount, T-online, Virgin, Sony, Canal+, and Universal. It had previously worked with Publicis companies and will now service international clients of Publicis’ Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG) and ZenithOptimedia (ZO) units. Founder Alex Mars becomes head of mobile for Publicis Groupe Media in the EMEA region and Publicis has appointed two of its members to the Phonevalley board. More in the announcement. Recently, Publicis has bought China’s Communication Central Group, French web agency Business Interactiff