Digital-marketing mergers: Cognizant-Cadient; Trellist-Scribewise

11/5/14 COGNIZANT-CADIENT UPDATE: From N.H.-based TBR (Technology Business Research): "Cognizant continues to distance itself from its legacy as an India-centric provider by building out its business consulting and transformation solutions to compete with global vendors IBM and Accenture. The acquisition of digital agency Cadient Group in October expands the gap between Cognizant and its low-cost peers HCLT and Wipro."

Cadient gives Cognizant its $20 million in yearly sales, plus "three major IP-based platforms: Reveal (analytics insights), Immerse (experiential marketing) and OneVoice (campaign management), and 100 U.S.-based digital marketing professionals with expertise in the healthcare and life sciences industry." TBR compares Cognizant's Cadient acqusition to IBM's new Interactive Experience practice; unlike IBM, Cognizant will focus thru Cadient at first on "pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and healthcare provider systems," see how that goes, then spread into other markets.

EARLIER: Two Philadelphia-area-based marketing agencies have sold to out-of-town firms:
  - Cognizant, the Teaneck, N.J.-based info tech consulting company, said Tuesday that it has acquired 12-year-old Cadient Group, a King of Prussia-based marketing agency that employs 140 "digital specialists" focused on drug, biotech, hospital and medical-device firms and other employees in King of Prussia (105) and Pune, India (35). Financial backers who will share in the payout -- which the buyer and seller won't disclose -- include Edison Partners of Lawrenceville, N.J.  
  - Trellist, the Wilmington-based marketing-technology consultancy headed by David Atadan, said last week it has acquired John Miller's Philadelphia-based agency Scribewise, which sells what Trellist calls "high quality journalist content marketing." Scribewise's four employees will be part of Trellist. Those terms not disclosed, either.

At Cadient: "There was a clear signal from our customers that a different form of a digital agency was needed for life sciences," chief executive Stephen Wray, who joined the company in 2004, told me. "Our customers are looking for social and mobile to really rethink their business model," to help targeted customers "understand new science" before they buy drugs.

In the past, he says, Cadient was hired to help drugmakers reach customers digitally "as pure communications. We have evolved" to help drugmakers acquire "the three I's: innovation, technology integration, multi-channel implementation." An independent agency "can't fulfill all three. Cadient as part of publicly-traded, well-financed Cognizant company "is the first in life sciences to answer that call."