Publicis Groupe Australia announced the launch of Influential, a new agency that unites the group’s social, content, and influencer capabilities under a single brand. The offering aims to revamp how brands connect with culture, creators, and commerce through an end-to-end solution built on data, technology, and cultural creativity.

The Australian launch follows Publicis Groupe’s global acquisition of Influential in late 2024 and Captiv8 in May 2025.

“The rise of influencers and content creators over the past 18 months remains a powerful marketing phenomenon,” Michael Rebelo, CEO of Publicis Groupe ANZ, said in a statement. “By integrating our influencer expertise, platform, creative strategy, content production and social media buying, we now have Australia’s most connected influencer and social agency.”

The Australian Influential team will report to Skye Lambley, CEO of Publicis Groupe ANZ’s Influence Practice, which includes integrated PR agency Herd MSL and sustainability consultancy Salterbaxter. Lambley will lead the new agency alongside newly appointed Influential Australia GM, Cat Wilkinson.

The team comprises over 30 cross-disciplinary specialists, including social-first strategists, cultural creatives, performance marketers, content creators, and platform specialists. Influential will function as a Publicis Centre of Excellence, enabling creator and social thinking for new and existing clients across industries including telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods, retail, beauty, and food and beverage.

The Framework

Influential’s proprietary model rests on four strategic pillars that work together to deliver social and influencer marketing solutions. 

At its foundation is Influence Intelligence, which leverages AI-powered insights to identify, vet, and activate creators who shape consumer behavior and drive engagement. 

This intelligence informs the second pillar, Commerce-Led Creativity, where content is designed not just to entertain, but to convert audiences through embedded shopping formats and performance-driven storytelling that creates paths to purchase. 

The third pillar, Cultural Co-Creation, emphasizes the development of campaigns in collaboration with creators and communities, ensuring that content resonates with target audiences. 

Finally, the Commercial Impact pillar provides clients with a measurement framework that directly links social activity to tangible business results, including brand equity growth, sales uplift, and other business outcomes in real-time.

The new offering builds upon Publicis Groupe ANZ’s previous FLUENT initiative, launched in 2024, which focused on transforming influencers into “dynamic storefronts” for brands, utilizing a “Return on Influence” measurement framework.

Captiv8’s acquisition has added a network of 15 million creators globally to Publicis Groupe’s capabilities, covering 95% of influencers with more than 5,000 followers and operating in 120 countries with local language and currency adaptations.