Publicis Groupe Acquires Captiv8: A New Era for Influencer Marketing
#GenZAtCannes, #CannesLions2025
In the influencer marketing world, Publicis Groupe has acquired Captiv8, the world’s leading AI-powered influencer platform that helps brands discover, manage, and measure their influencer partnerships. With this acquisition, Publicis is integrating Captiv8’s technology, social commerce expertise, and creator network with its existing platforms like Influential. Publicis aims to offer clients (brands) to do everything related to influencer marketing in one place, including planning campaigns, running them, and observing how well they’re doing regardless of the platform or country they reside in.
Why This Matters:
Captiv8, Influential, and Epsilon are collaborating as part of Publicis Groupe’s strategy to develop a supreme connected influencer platform.
This shifts from diversified influencer tactics to unified, creator marketing engines.
About Captiv8:
Founded by Krishna Subramanian and Sunil Verma, Captiv8 networks 15 million creators globally, covering 95% of all influencers who have 5,000 or more followers.
It’s ranked the #1 Enterprise Influencer Platform by G2.
Offers data analytics and reporting, influencer discovery and management, and campaign management and execution.
What Acquisition Unlocks:
Massive Reach: Brands can now team up with over 15 million influencers from all over the world.
Smarter Targeting: By combining what brands know about their customers with influencer data, they can show the right content to the right people.
Shopping Built-In: Influencers can help fans buy stuff directly through their posts, like using links or in-app shops.
Clear Results: Companies can track what happens-from someone seeing a post to clicking and buying, so they know if it worked.
With Gen Z increasingly turning to creators for product discovery and trust, Captiv8’s platform will allow brands to engage authentically while tracking every click.
Cannes Lions 2025:
Captiv8 brought a powerful and supreme presence to Cannes Lions, hosting a range of experiences covering creativity, wellness, and influencer engagement. Inside the Carlton suite, they brought together top marketers and creators for interactive sessions, from Get Ready With Me beauty showcases led by Emmy winner Kendall Toole, to guided breathwork breaks and sunset wine tastings aboard the IAS yacht with Dylan Efron.
Beyond the magnificent events they hosted, Captiv8 played a key role in Publicis’s influencer marketing showcase. Together with Influential, they launched a playful Cannes campaign centered around a "lion" mascot and creator-powered content, tracked live through a “Lion Tracker” dashboard on Influential Beach. The initiative demonstrated Captiv8’s strength in global creator activation, real-time campaign measurement, and storytelling at scale, proving that influencer marketing is no longer a side tactic but a central part of brand strategy.
What Gen Z can take away from Captiv8:
You don’t need millions of followers to make an impact. Captiv8 proves that authentic voices, creative ideas, and real connections are what truly matter.