Shiseido Americas has acquired JWALK, a creative agency and digital design company, in an effort to boost its creative excellence and grow its brands.
The parent company of bareMinerals, Laura Mercier and NARS will work with JWALK to strengthen its brands’ creative consistency across channels.
Masahiko Uotani, President and CEO of Shiseido Group, said: “Creative excellence is at the core of consumer communication and is key to building the value of our prestige brands.
“I am convinced that JWALK will add significant intangible value and capabilities to our marketing efforts, especially in leveraging their digital communication expertise. I also look forward to JWALK’s collaboration with our creative teams in Tokyo on key projects to deliver creative excellence on a global scale.”
JWALK and Shiseido are no strangers, but have worked together for the past four years, with a focus on the company’s bareMinerals and Buxom brands.
Doug Jacob, Co-founder of JWALK will become Chief Creative Director of Shiseido Americas, reporting into Jill Scalamandre, President of Shiseido’s Global Makeup Center of Excellence.
Jacob revealed that he and JWALK’s other Co-founder Michael Lastoria did not plan for a sale.
He said: “Michael and I were never intending to sell JWALK.
“When this opportunity was presented to us by Marc and Jill, it aligned with our values and goals to continue to lead with design.
“The way in which we set up this partnership allows us to remain at the forefront of the creative space, attracting the best talent in our industry and continuing our tradition of being bold in business and innovation.
“Essentially, we can ‘JWALK’ as we always have, and also be part of the next chapter of growth for the Shiseido portfolio.”
