Anthony Freedman’s Common Interest acquires Amplify
Global creative agency Amplify has been acquired by comms and entertainment group Common Interest.
Common Interest has acquired a 51% stake in the agency, with a commitment to purchase the remaining 49% over the next five years. As part of the deal, Amplify’s global leadership team will become partners and equity holders in Common Interest.
Amplify was founded in Australia in 2008 by global CEO Jonathan Emmins, who has led the agency alongside chair Anton Mercier.
It has offices in Sydney, London, LA, Paris, and New York, and its client roster includes the likes of Lego, Google, Netflix, Samsung, Nike, Playstation, and more.
Amplify also has two audience specialist agencies – Seed, which focuses on youth and Gen Z, and Wonder, which focuses on business experience. Emmins and Mercier will continue to lead the business alongside the global and local leadership teams, including those of the two smaller agencies.
(L-R): Amplify’s Jonathan Emmins and Common Interest’s Anthony Freedman
Emmins said as audiences are becoming more fragmented, and culture is becoming increasingly fluid, there is a different creative need for modern brands, one that “better reflects” the expectations of consumers. Put simply, he said in an evolving world, audiences and brands are looking for “a new type” of creative agency.
“Common Interest is the natural home for Amplify, sharing this belief, the collaborative spirit and, above all, a commitment to creativity and culture. That is why we decided to both ‘partner’ and ‘become partners’. Amplify has always pioneered non-traditional models of story-telling and was one of the first in the agencies dedicated to culture,” he said in a media release on Friday.
“Now, through our partnership with Common Interest, we are even better placed to help clients navigate the exciting new opportunities to connect with today’s and tomorrow’s audiences.”
Meanwhile. Common Interest was founded in 2023 by former Havas AUNZ chair, and founder of Host and One Green Bean, Anthony Freedman.
The group — which includes global brand transformation consultancy Twenty First Century Brand, design studio Otherway, and AI cultural intelligence platform Culture Lab — is headquartered in London.
“It’s increasingly accepted that culturally relevant brands materially outperform, and Common Interest was created to help businesses unlock this competitive advantage by connecting with audiences in popular culture,” Freedman said in the release.
“Our position as the world’s first group focused on building brands in popular culture is supercharged with the addition of Amplify which brings its proven track record for delivering worldbuilding ideas that blur the line between brand, entertainment, tech and modern media, both globally and locally.”
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Lauren McNamara is a freelance journalist contributing to Mumbrella. She previously spent three years at the publication, most recently as the associate editor. She first joined in 2022 after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS. She left her staff role at Mumbrella in August 2025.
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