Burnett acquired the three-year old business, which has nine employees, because it wanted to fast track its push into digital marketing, said Burnett regional managing director Richard Pinder. "I don't think there's time (to build a business organically) ... I'm in a hurry to get Burnett's service offer right."
It would also be more costly for Burnett to establish a business from scratch because it would involve putting the people and resources in place before the agency has established a strong client list.
The Singapore market, according to Pinder, was a priority because even though it was a small market it was one of the most developed Asian markets when it comes to interactive marketing.
He added Burnett was also looking to acquire an interactive agency in Shanghai.
The new name Galeleo is a play on the word "Leo
and fits well with Burnett's UK digital marketing agency Leonardo, said Renshaw, who was previously Burnett Singapore executive director of interactive. Galeleo will have separate offices to the ad agency as it plans to work with agency as well as non-agency clients. Aurica's client list includes car distributor Cycle & Carriage, Port of Singapore Authority and the Ministry of Manpower; while Burnett has done interactive work for McDonald's, Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Air Force.
According to Renshaw, the response from clients has been positive. He said Burnett started working with Aurica about 18 months ago when the company revamped the Singapore Air Force's website.
He said it then took nearly a year for the acquisition to be finalised because Burnett wanted to ensure there was a good cultural fit and this was followed by problems in getting documentation completed. In terms of personnel, the business founders general manager, Tham Leng Kit; account manager Corrinne Koh; and project manager Jasmin Lee will stay on. Tham is now business development director, Koh is client services director and Lee is projects director.
