Weber Shandwick acquires Bomoda, Resolute Digital

Weber Shandwick has acquired China-focused business intelligence firm Bomoda, effective immediately, to expand its data science and measurement capablities. Terms of the deal were not disclsoed. 

At the same time, Weber Shandwick also announced the acquisition of Resolute Digital, a full-service digital marketing firm based in New York. 

In a statement released, Darren Burns, president, China, and chair, creativity and innovation, APAC, said Weber Shandwick and Bomoda had worked together over the past year. "We are very excited by the synergy of combining Bomoda's unique analytics, insights and technology with our strong strategic, creative and execution capabilities," Burns said. "This combination will allow us to deliver a whole new suite of value to our clients and further drive business results.”

Bomoda is headquartered in New York and headed by Brian Buchwald. R3 invested in the firm last year, in a partnership where R3 led business development in China with Bomoda overseeing product development, data analytics and client services. Bomoda's capabilities, R3 said at the time, included the analysis of over 2 million posts per day on WeChat and 10 million individual purchases per month on Taobao, with similar oversight across platfroms JD.com, Sina Weibo and ecommerce platform Xiaohongshu. 

Greg Paull, principal at R3, confirmed today that the company has cashed out its investment in Bomoda but will remain a partner. "Chinese marketers are continually demanding more transparency over social and ecommerce, and Bomoda continue to be at the cutting edge of this," he said.

Buchwald added: “Many of the most innovative approaches to digital marketing today are born in China, given the country’s incredibly mobile and social consumer base. We’re proud of Bomoda’s success in helping global brands better understand what drives consumer behaviour and purchase decisions in the China market." 

On the acquisitions, Chris Perry, chief digital officer, Weber Shandwick, said: " We continue to develop partnerships, build platforms and utilise proprietary technology to help us mine data and gather insights that lead to the right audience engagement and, ultimately, business results for our clients. Bomoda and Resolute Digital are important additions to help deliver on this agenda for clients and continue to lead in the marketplace.”