BarkleyOKRP Makes First Acquisition Since Forming in March

Posted May 2, 2024

Updated at 11:30 a.m., May 2, 2024

BarkleyOKRP announced it acquired the Austin, TX-based marketing company Adlucent. This move marks the first acquisition the firm has made since Barkley and OKRP merged earlier this year.

BarkleyOKRP acquired Adlucent from its parent company Advantage Solutions, according to a Wednesday release.

The integration adds 180 employees to BarkleyOKRP’s workforce.

Founded in 2001, Adlucent serves over 100 corporate clients with brands such as Zappos, The Vitamin Shoppe, 1-800-Contacts, Rawlings and Global Industrial. The company specializes in full-funnel media services, creating paid media strategies for retail and service for businesses delivering results across search, display, social and retail media networks, according to the release.

“This acquisition of Adlucent supports our strategic vision to scale integrated media capabilities, expand our technology offering, and grow our media and data team to more than 250 experts, driving consumer engagement and ROI for our clients,” Jeff King, CEO of BarkleyOKRP said.

BarkleyOKRP now operates offices in Kansas City, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Pittsburgh and Austin, with over 800 employees companywide.

Ashwani Dhar, CEO of Adlucent, will now take the role of chief performance officer at BarkleyOKRP. Dhar will report directly to King and will work with chief media officer, Reshma Karnik, to lead Adlucent’s integration with BarkleyOKRP’s practice.

In March, Kansas City-based Barkley merged with Chicago-based OKRP to form BarkleyOKRP, an agency that fulfills a “big indie” role in the marketing sector. Now, the company’s roster of clients includes Metro by T-Mobile, Burger King, Planet Fitness, Motel 6, Premier Protein, AMC and others.