Shiseido Americas acquires creative agency JWALK

09-Mar-2017 - Last updated on 09-Mar-2017 at 12:36 GMT

With this deal, the global beauty company brings both creative and digital design services in-house to better each brand's communication with consumers.

Jill Scalamandre, president of Shiseido’s Global Makeup Center of Excellence, is looking forward to the new arrangement, explaining, “JWALK will be an integral part of our global strategy for accelerating makeup growth across our portfolio. I have been a big fan of their work for several years, and look forward to leveraging their creative vision, as they become a key pillar within the Center of Excellence.”

Going forward, JWALK founder Doug Jacob will be the chief creative director at Shiseido Americas, reporting directly to Scalamandre.

Partnership

JWALK and Shiseido have collaborated before. The agency has worked on both the bareMinerals and Buxom brands since 2013. A press release about the acquisition affirms that the creative agency “has a long-standing relationship with Shiseido.”

Now working in-house, the JWALK agency will be involved with the brand teams’ digital and creative projects from start to finish—“playing a role in the entire creative process, from strategy to execution, and from concept to delivery,” according to the release.

One key objective for JWALK is to achieve creative consistency for each Shiseido brand across platforms and consumer touchpoints.

“Creative power and agility have never been more important to a brand’s success,” says Marc Rey, president and CEO of Shiseido Americas, adding that “JWALK’s team members are bold, talented experts who have delivered stunning results by pushing the envelope in thoughtful, innovative and integrative ways. They bring tremendous expertise and energy in creative content, digital design, and brand building and will help our brands drive creative excellence across the board.”

Nonexclusive

JWALK apparently wasn’t looking to be acquired or join forces with a major consumer goods company. And the acquisition doesn’t mean that the firm’s work with outside clients will necessarily come to an end.

“Michael and I were never intending to sell JWALK,” Jacob tells the press. But “when this opportunity was presented to us by Marc and Jill, it aligned with our values and goals to continue to lead with design.”

The agency will “continue working with new and existing, non-competitive clients in order to further develop its competitive edge and top talent pool,” according to the press release.