It’s a tale as old as digital.

Last week, Publicis Group acquired Influential, one of the top independent shops focused on helping brands connect with creators. The deal is the latest to confirm the importance of creators to a new generation or two of consumers, and the holding companies’ need to ramp up their capabilities fast.

It’s also the latest in an ongoing pattern ever since the dawn of “interactive media” in the late 1990s. A category blows up. Early entrants emerge, while the incumbent agencies move slowly and cautiously. Eventually the big guys pounce, and suddenly every major media agency suddenly needs a search agency, or a mobile agency, or an ecommerce agency, or an influencer shop. It would be great if such innovation happened inside the big agency walls, but alas. Going forward, I’d expect more copycat deals. The real winners will be the companies that are able to integrate these new teams - and their DNA - inside their core buying groups the fastest.

Dig Deeper With These Links:

• Publicis Groupe to Acquire Influencer Marketing Leader Influential - Kyle O’Brien [Adweek]

• The FTC Orders Companies To Disclose Info On “Surveillance Pricing” - James Hercher [AdExchanger]

• The $600 Billion Digital Ad Business Is Hanging on a Few Words From Google - Suzanne Vranica and Patience Haggin [WSJ]

• Ad Companies Accuse Pluto TV of Exploiting Programmatic Auctions - Catherine Perloff [Adweek]

• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Elon? - Kate Conger [NY Times]