Together Group acquires China digital-marketing agency

Together Group, a global group of agencies focused on the luxury and lifestyle sectors, announced the acquisition of Hot Pot China, a digital-marketing specialist with offices in London and Shanghai.

Hot Pot China, which has clients including Liberty, Fortnum and Mason, and LaPerla, will help Togther Group clients with entry into and growth in the mainland market, the company said in a release.

In addition, Together Group has taken stakes in five founder-led companies as it positions itself to be a full-service solution for the design, tech, marketing and communications needs of multinational, regional and local clients.

Among these is Purple, a communications agency specialising in fashion, beauty and luxury-lifestyle with offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Hong Kong. Its clients include Boss, Messika, LVMH, Richemont, DDquared2 and Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Ilia, Fresh, Ian Schrager, Edition, Argent, Technogym, Polaroid, The Invisible Collection, WePresent and Seventy One Gin.

The other agencies the group has taken a stake in are:

• King & Partners, which provides strategy, branding, creative, marketing and ecommerce services. It is based in New York with offices in LA and Miami.
• Noë & Associates, a brand strategy, design, content and production agency focusing on architecture, design and the built environment, with offices in London and New York.
• Construct, a female-led creative consultancy and agency.

"We are building a truly diverse luxury-lifestyle agency group that celebrates a dynamic approach of combining synergistic agencies working in unison to deliver service excellence on a number of levels," Christian Kurtzke, CEO of Together Group, said. "Our model combines the benefits of leading-edge, founder-led agencies with the advantages of a larger, global organisation.”

The agencies will retain their own identities, cultures and senior leadership teams, and are "fully aligned" as Together Group shareholders, according to the company.