Capgemini swoops for purpose driven pioneer 23red

Consultancy giant Capgemini has signed a deal to acquire 23red – launched in October 2000 – to boost its sustainability and creative brand design capabilities in the UK.

Co-founded by former Tequila chief executive Jane Asscher and creative chief Sean Kinmont (pictured), 23red was arguably practising purpose-driven marketing before it had even been invented.

The business specialises in developing brands and campaigns that change behaviour for the better and have a positive impact on people’s lives.

Over the years the London agency has specialised in working for both the public and charity sectors, for clients including NHS Blood & Transplant, National Rail, the Competition & Markets Authority, The Film & TV Charity, the Ministry of Defence and Public Health England to name but a few.

Capgemini was launched in 1967 in France and reported global revenues of €18bn in 2021. It has more than 350,000 staff in more than 50 countries, offering services from strategy and design to operations, fuelled by the cloud, data, AI, connectivity, software, digital engineering and platforms.

Following the deal, the 23red team will now be part of Capgemini Invent, which was launched in September 2018 as the design and consulting brand of the group.

The agency will sit within the Frog division, which also houses staff from the earlier acquisitions of Fahrenheit 212, Idean, and June21. It is not known whether the 23red brand will survive; terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Capgemini Invent CEO and group executive board member Cyril Garcia said: “Clients in the public and third sectors are increasingly relying on the use of data insights and digital technologies to truly engage their target audiences. This is particularly pertinent for public information, societal and charity communication campaigns.

“23red’s capacity and competencies in this space will help our UK team to meet increasing demand for our sustainability and purpose-driven customer first services, which are also a key growth area for the Group. I am delighted to welcome them to Capgemini.”

Jane Asscher added: “As a purpose-driven organisation, we felt that our values and culture were closely aligned to those of the Capgemini Group. This was a key consideration for us.

“Capgemini’s global scale and breadth of industry expertise will bring great added value to our clients in the public and 3rd sectors. We are excited about the range of services that the Group provides to numerous global brands and the amazing career opportunities that this will also bring for our team members.”