Keywords acquires Digital Media Management to move into social and online marketing

Keywords Studios, a big creative services firm for games and entertainment, has acquired social media agency Digital Media Management.

Los Angeles-based DMM is a full-scale digital marketing agency, and it comes with a production studio and tech platform Creator Lab for influencers.

London-based Keywords Studios provides outsourcing services for the game industry. DMM will join its Engage division.

DMM is an award-winning social media marketing company founded in 2010 by Luigi Picarazzi. Based in Los Angeles, it has more than 200 employees. The agency provides integrated social media strategy, management, as well as creative and influencer solutions, for entertainment and video games sectors.

DMM’s client base includes video games publishers, Hollywood movie studios, streaming platforms, entertainment brands and public figures, which DMM helps build and connect with their target audiences across all social media platforms, with a focus on driving audience acquisition, engagement, growth, conversion and retention.

DMM recently completed construction on an 11,000 square-foot production studio to create original social media content and experiential marketing activations. DMM also has built a proprietary software platform, Creator Lab, to more easily and effectively partner content creators, who have expressed affinity for a particular game or entertainment property, with brands.

DMM will join Keywords’ Engage division, which houses expert brands in marketing, player support, and player research offerings, and will be a key building block in accelerating Keywords’ vision to offering clients holistic marketing programs.

DMM joins the fast-growing Engage division on the heels of recent acquisitions of the premier U.S. PR firm, Fortyseven Communications, and AI-powered customer service platform, HelpShift. Founder Luigi Picarazzi and COO Adam Reynolds will stay on board to steer the company alongside the rest of the team.

“DMM brings KWS a top tier social marketing agency, world-class production location and capability, as well as a technology platform that can help scale its influencer offering,” said Bertrand Bodson, CEO of Keywords Studios, in a statement. “As entertainment and games further converge, and we continue to add leading marketing services to our group, we believe we will unlock significant opportunities to engage billions of gamers and content creators. We are excited to work together with the talented and energetic leadership and team at DMM.”

As experts in fandom, DMM has been rapidly expanding alongside the converging entertainment and video games sectors, with more crossover of content and brands than ever before. In addition to its social media expertise, DMM brings experience in short format social/video assets, complementing Keywords’ longer, trailer format content expertise, as well as award winning community management, YouTube management, and influencer and content creator partnership services.

“We share Keywords’ vision for where media and entertainment are going, and we believe joining up will multiply our forces,” said Picarazzi, founder of DMM, in a statement. “The combination of DMM’s market-leading digital and social media capabilities and Keywords’ deep expertise and global reach will amplify our collective abilities.”

Jegi Clarity, a M&A advisory firm for the media, marketing, information and technology industries, represented Digital Media Management in this transaction. Keywords, founded in 1998, has thousands of employees across 70 facilities in 26 countries.