Dolphin Entertainment has bought Be Social, a digital influencer marketing firm.” data-reactid=”28″>Entertainment marketing and production company Dolphin Entertainment has bought Be Social, a digital influencer marketing firm.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. As part of Dolphin, Be Social and its 20-employee team will continue to operate under its own name out of the existing L.A. office, with founder Ali Grant (pictured above) remaining as CEO.
Launched in 2012 by Grant, Be Social reps both brands and digital influencers. The company has executed multiple campaigns for beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands including H&M, Nordstrom and Disney. Be Social will work alongside Dolphin’s three entertainment industry PR firms — 42West, Shore Fire Media and the Door — to expand their engagement on social media and with influencers.
“The ability to execute best-in-class influencer marketing campaigns is the single-most important skill set we wanted to bring into the Dolphin family this year,” Dolphin Entertainment CEO Bill O’Dowd said in announcing the acquisition. “Be Social allows us to immediately cross-sell services and launch influencer campaigns to support our entire spectrum of entertainment content, as well as for our rapidly expanding roster of consumer product clients.”
O’Dowd added, “Ali Grant simply epitomizes next-generation leadership, and she has built a young, energetic, socially savvy company, with a fantastic footprint in the fashion and lifestyle industries.”
According to Grant, Dolphin provides Be Social growth opportunities into new entertainment verticals, “alongside the very best PR firms in the business.”
“And as a young, female-led company, I cannot tell you how excited we are to work with, and learn from, well-known female leaders in entertainment marketing,” Grant said, citing 42West co-CEOs Amanda Lundberg and Leslee Dart, the Door president Lois Najarian O’Neill and Shore Fire Media president Marilyn Laverty.
K&L Gates LLP served as legal counsel to Dolphin Entertainment, and law firm Reed Smith LLP repped Be Social.
