GroupM Expands Goat into the Nordics to Scale Up Influencer Content and Drive Performance

By combining the authenticity of creator-driven content with the addressability and scalability of media buying, Goat will bring unparalleled expertise to the Nordic influencer marketing landscape.

GroupM has announced a significant upscaling of their influencer marketing solution, Goat, across the Nordics to pave the way for the next era of media effectiveness and meet clients’ growing need for authentic, native content.

The influencer marketing agency, Goat, was acquired by WPP last year and has become the leading influencer marketing solution for all GroupM agencies. Now, GroupM seeks to further strengthen its influencer offering across the Nordics by integrating Goat within their Paid Social Media and Addressable Content departments. This is part of a strategic effort to make Goat the driving content engine in the wider marketing ecosystem.

Where Addressable Content focuses on targeting a multitude of creative messages and assets to the right audiences in real-time, Goat specializes in data-led, end-to-end influencer campaigns grounded in performance and measurement. By housing influencer content in real-time performance data and tech, Goat can integrate and repurpose content across channels to drive engagement throughout every stage of the consumer journey. As such, combining Addressable Content and Goat allows for a more holistic and effective approach to influencer marketing, where clients can benefit from the authenticity of creator-driven, native content, and the scalability and targeting of media buying.

GroupM believes this unique offering represents the next era of media effectiveness and expects to see huge future growth in this area. Many clients in Sweden have already started to realize that creativity is the main driver of effectiveness and that user-generated content and content creators have become the new currency, exemplified by the group’s collaboration with Arvid Nordquist. The initiative aimed to create awareness and engagement in a target group that is both tech-savvy and highly influenced by social media. Leveraging the influence of content creators, Mindshare, a GroupM agency, and Goat decided to use content from Arvid Nordquist’s influencer campaigns and repurpose it in display creatives to create more engaging display ad units. The creatives were built using DCO templates, allowing them to dynamically update the display creatives. This extended content approach yielded remarkable results with a 50% increase in CTA and a 32% decrease in CPC.

“By merging influencer marketing with addressable content, we create a synergy that maximizes performance and engagement. Consumers today are looking for authenticity. By using authentic creator-driven content in our campaigns, we can build strong brands and achieve significant sales impact. Global brands have already proven the effectiveness of this approach and we need to stay at the forefront of this ever-evolving capability”, says Anna Hammerlid, CEO of GroupM Nexus Sweden, where Goat is part of the solutions portfolio.

Johanna Östling, who has been appointed as Strategic Director for Goat in Sweden, adds: “By working closely with influencers and media specialists, we can ensure that our clients get the best of both worlds. The integration of addressable content with influencer marketing allows us to launch effective and engaging campaigns that target audiences in a native and authentic way. Offering this type of integrated solution is not only a response to growing needs but is also a necessity to ensure that our clients remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketing landscape”.

Ann Jack, who has has stepped into the role of Commercial Manager for Goat in Norway, emphasizes the importance of user-generated content in the face of consumers’ growing awareness of “polished” advertising: “Consumers today seek authenticity. By using authentic content in our campaigns that consumers can see themselves reflected in, we can build strong brands and achieve significant sales impact. International brands have already proven the success of this approach and it is essential that we as an agency offer this capability to our clients.” 

 

“The influencer marketing industry is moving away from its former celebrity-focus and follower count into a new era where user-generated content and content creators are the new currency. By combining influencer marketing with paid media, we create a synergy that maximizes performance and engagement for our clients” says Alexander Hermansen, Head of Social Media at GroupM in Norway, who will spearhead this venture here.

 

Pernille Rähr, Market Director for Goat in Denmark, concludes: “We are witnessing a growing demand for data-driven influencer activation. Goat enables us to deliver this at the highest level, with everything grounded in data and tech”.

As part of the acquisition, Goat has become an integral part of the media solutions portfolio at GroupM Nexus, GroupM’s media activation arm, and will service all agencies within GroupM Nordics.

 

About Goat

Part of GroupM Nexus since 2023, The Goat Agency (Goat) is a global award-winning agency delivering niche content, to niche audiences, at scale. The company works with leading brands to drive competitive advantage and digital transformation using influencers as a performance media channel. Since 2015, Goat has worked with, retained, and scaled some of the world’s most exciting brands, delivering social and influencer campaigns in over 70 countries and 28 languages. Today, Goat represents more than 400 employees working across 35 local markets, distributing influencer content across all media channels, delivering market-leading awareness and consideration campaigns, and driving commerce results for clients.