- Brainlabs acquired LA-based Exverus to become a single, full-funnel AOR across all media.
- Exverus brings $100M+ in spend, award-winning cross-channel chops, and West Coast presence.
- Brainlabs’ “Real Intelligence” blends AI and human insight; the deal operationalizes it at scale.
- Clients want one integrated view of performance—this move is a direct answer to that demand.
- Leadership continuity and phased integration aim to preserve Exverus’ culture while adding Brainlabs’ tech and reach.
Data-first planning meets AI tooling as two award‑winning independents unite under one roof.
When Brainlabs describes its philosophy as “Real Intelligence,” the blend of artificial and human insight, it’s more than a tagline. The agency’s July 22 announcement that it’s acquiring Los Angeles–based Exverus Media is the operational proof point.
Brainlabs brings AI-driven performance DNA; Exverus arrives with a decorated track record in full‑funnel, cross‑channel planning. Together, they’re positioning as a single agency of record that refuses to choose between TV and TikTok, retail media and programmatic, brand lift and ROAS.
This isn’t a defensive consolidation. It’s an offensive integration designed to meet a client mandate that’s grown louder each quarter: one partner, one plan, one measurement spine.
The Deal That Completes the Funnel, and the Map
Exverus manages more than $100 million in annual media spend and has been lauded repeatedly: Adweek’s 2024 Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year, three Ad Age Small Media Agency of the Year titles, eight Adweek Media Plan of the Year wins, and multiple Cannes Lions finalists.
Brainlabs, already among the fastest‑growing independent media shops, now sees its U.S. billings hit roughly $1 billion, with headcount expanding to about 500 in the States and more than 1,060 globally. The acquisition also gives the London‑headquartered firm a West Coast base, completing a coast‑to‑coast footprint.
For Daniel Gilbert, Brainlabs’ founder and CEO, the transaction “completes [the] transformation into a full‑service AOR across all media channels.” He frames it as “the inverse of how the hold cos would think about acquisition,” distancing the move from the cost‑cutting, headcount‑shedding deals reshaping large networks. Staff retention, he says, is baked in: “We have mechanics in place” to keep talent on board.
Real Intelligence, Made Tangible
Brainlabs has long pitched “Real Intelligence” as mastering both machine learning and media craft. Exverus, in Gilbert’s words, brings “a brand‑new set of tools and a modern approach to full‑funnel media.”
That doesn’t mean buying “remnant inventory”; it means orchestrating connected TV, retail media, paid social, linear, search, and programmatic under one strategic roof—and measuring the whole thing in real time.
Bill Durrant, Exverus co‑founder, puts it simply: “The real magic happens when you can seamlessly orchestrate across media channels—TV, retail media, programmatic, and social—while measuring impact in real time.” That need—integrated orchestration plus transparent, outcome-focused measurement—is precisely what marketers keep asking for as the media landscape fragments and internal dashboards proliferate.
One Brief, One Dashboard, One Story
“Clients want one consolidated view of how their marketing is doing,” Gilbert told Adweek. “They don’t want the data or the reporting from their digital agency and the reporting from their above‑the‑line agency. They just want one.”
The Brainlabs/Exverus construct is built to answer that. Instead of a brand juggling multiple partners—each guarding its turf and its metrics—this combined entity aims to run brand and performance budgets through a unified framework. That’s not sexy language, but it’s mission‑critical: if every dollar is judged against a different KPI model, you get confusion, not clarity.
Independence as a Feature, Not a Flaw
While holding companies retrench, independent agencies are quietly hoovering up briefs from mid‑to‑large brands that feel boxed in by legacy models. Gilbert’s take: “The advertising industry isn’t shrinking—it’s just finding its new homes in independents.”
Backed by private equity firm Falfurrias Capital, Brainlabs has been methodically building a stack: Hanapin (performance marketing), Distilled (SEO), Nabler (data), Fanbytes (influencer), Sparro and Jack Nimble (Australia), and now Exverus for traditional-meets-digital media integration.
For the next year, Exverus will operate “relatively independent,” with founders Bill Durrant, Talia Arnold, and Jack Win staying in place. The directive is to encourage shared briefs while maintaining the culture that earned Exverus its accolades.
Talia Arnold underscored that continuity: clients keep “the same passionate team they know and trust,” now augmented by Brainlabs’ tech and scale.
What Changes for Clients (and What Doesn’t)
- Brainlabs clients gain traditional planning heft, linear buying muscle, and a deeper cross‑channel analytics bench—all wrapped in Exverus’ creative media strategy chops.
- Exverus clients unlock Brainlabs’ AI tooling, international reach, and product suite, without losing the nimble team that got them results in the first place.
The promise is less complexity (fewer agency hand‑offs, fewer attribution fights) and more coherence (strategy aligned from top to bottom of the funnel). For growth brands spending $10 million to enterprises investing up to $250 million, Brainlabs says it now has the architecture to scale outcomes without fragmenting oversight.
What to Watch Next
Brainlabs is targeting 20% global revenue growth this year and actively hiring across media roles. Gilbert says no further North America acquisitions are imminent, suggesting the focus now shifts to digestion and deployment.
Expect:
- A unified measurement framework marketed aggressively to CMOs sick of stitching together siloed reports.
- Case studies that prove “Real Intelligence” drives incremental lift across channels, not just efficiency in any single one.
- Potential productization of Exverus’ cross‑channel planning tools atop Brainlabs’ AI stack.
If those come to pass, this deal becomes more than a headline—it becomes a template for how independents can out‑integrate the giants.
