Culture-first collective Common Interest Globally has acquired a 51% stake in global creative agency Amplify, with plans to buy out the remaining 49% over the next five years.

Founded in 2007, Amplify is led by Chair Anton Mercier and Global CEO Jonathan Emmins. The agency operates offices in London, Sydney, Los Angeles, Paris, and New York, and collaborates with high-profile clients such as Lego, Google, Netflix, PlayStation, Samsung, and Nike. In addition to its core operations, Amplify houses two audience specialist agencies: Seed, which focuses on youth and Gen Z, and Wonder, which concentrates on business experiences.

"As audiences become more fragmented and culture becomes increasingly fluid, modern brands need a different type of creative expertise. One that better reflects the seamless expectations of their consumers. In this evolving world, audiences and brands alike are looking for a new type of creative agency" said Emmins.

"Common Interest is the natural home for Amplify, sharing this belief, the collaborative spirit and, above all, a commitment to creativity and culture. That is why we decided to both ‘partner’ and ‘become partners’. Amplify has always pioneered non-traditional models of story-telling and was one of the first in the agencies dedicated to culture. Now, through our partnership with Common Interest, we are even better placed to help clients navigate the exciting new opportunities to connect with today's and tomorrow’s audiences."

The partnership with Common Interest will see Amplify's global leadership team becoming partners and equity holders in the collective.

Common Interest, a communications and entertainment group, was founded in September 2023 by Anthony Freedman, former Havas AUNZ chair and founder of 'One Green Bean' and 'Host' agency. The group is dedicated to connecting brands and audiences through popular culture and includes companies such as TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, Otherway, and CultureLab.

"It's increasingly accepted that culturally relevant brands materially outperform, and Common Interest was created to help businesses unlock this competitive advantage by connecting with audiences in popular culture. Our position as the world's first group focused on building brands in popular culture is supercharged with the addition of Amplify which brings its proven track record for delivering worldbuilding ideas that blur the line between brand, entertainment, tech and modern media, both globally and locally," said Freed.

Prior to finalising the partnership, Amplify had already begun collaborating with Common Interest's entities, including TwentyFirstCenturyBrand and Otherway.