Publicis launches Australian arm of Influential, a ‘next-generation’ social agency

Publicis Groupe has announced Influential is expanding into Australia.

The global group acquired Influential in late 2024, and said the new local offering will unite its social, content and influencer capabilities under a single brand in Australia. Influential appears to replace Fluent, which it launched in August last year to help brands take full advantage of influencers and talent.

Influential is billed as a “next-generation influencer and social agency” which will “redefine how brands connect with culture, creators and commerce”.

The announcement said it already had clients spanning verticals including telecommunications, FMCG, beauty, and food and beverage.

The agency will be led by Skye Lambley, CEO of Publicis Groupe ANZ’s Influence Practice, who currently holds the role of CEO of Publicis PR agency Herd MSL.

Skye Lambley (left) and Cat Wilkinson (right) will head up Influential in Australia

She will be supported by a newly appointed general manager, Cat Wilkinson, who has previously held head of content partnerships roles at both NBC Universal and Dentsu International in Sydney. She’s also been a creative content strategist at MSL Global in Canada, and was most recently the head of content at Prodigious Australia.

In addition, the agency employs over 30 social-first strategists, cultural creatives, performance marketers, content creators, and platform and paid specialists.

The holding group said Influential unites its media, creative and communications capabilities into a single end-to-end solution for social and influencer marketing.

CEO of the Groupe in Australia, Michael Rebelo, added: “The rise of influencers and content creators over the past 18 months remains a powerful marketing phenomenon. To truly optimise investment and impact in this space, an end-to-end solution is essential. By integrating our influencer expertise, platform, creative strategy, content production and social media buying, we now have Australia’s most connected influencer and social agency.”

Lambley said: “Clients need a truly connected offering that spans the full spectrum of social media. By bringing all our social expertise under one roof, we’re delivering a unified, strategic solution that drives and measures clear business results.”

While Fluent’s framework was all about “Return on Influence”, Influential boasts a “proprietary model… built on four strategic pillars”. Influence Intelligence offers AI-powered insights to identify, vet and activate creators. Commerce-Led Creativity includes content such as shopping formats, social storefronts and performance-driven storytelling. Cultural Co-Creation involves campaigns which are co-developed with creators and communities. And Commercial Impact is a “proprietary measurement framework that links social activity and paid media to brand equity, sales uplift and business outcomes in real-time”.