A ceremony marking the strategic partnership between Emerald and Dentsu Aegis Network on March 3. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Japan's Dentsu Aegis Network on March 3 announced that it is set to acquire a stake in Emerald, a full-service digital marketing agency in Viet Nam, to strengthen its size and scale in Viet Nam market.

Emerald, which has over 80 employees, will become a company within Isobar, Dentsu Aegis Network's global digital marketing agency, and will be called Emerald - Linked by Isobar.

Thi Anh Dao will continue as managing director and report to Toshinori Aoki, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Viet Nam.

TV accounts for almost 80 per cent of advertising spending and digital accounts for only around 3-5 per cent, according to Aoki.

But with more and more people using digital tools as well as smart phones, sooner or later budgets would shift to digital, meaning potential for digital growth in Viet Nam is huge, he added.

Nguyen Khoa Hong Thanh, Emerald's operations director, said this partnership would allow the company to leverage the global resources and talent of the group to improve its service quality as well as deliver groundbreaking work for its clients.

Emerald has been an affiliate of Isobar in Viet Nam since 2012.

The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. — VNS