Shiseido Americas acquires creative agency JWalk

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Mar 7, 2017

Shiseido Americas announced on Monday the acquisition of full-service creative agency JWalk. The acquisition, which is part of the company’s Vision 2020 goal, is an effort from Shiseido to elevate its creative excellence and speed and accelerate the growth of its brands.

 
JWalk will work hand-in-hand with Shiseido’s brand teams as an integrated part of the organization. The creative company will play a role in the entire creative process, from strategy to execution, and from concept to delivery.
 
Co-founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs Doug Jacob, Michael Lastoria and Charlie Walk, JWalk merges creative with business expertise as partners of beauty, luxury, fashion, hospitality, consumer packaged goods, and health & fitness brands, including Shiseido. JWalk and Shiseido have worked together for the last four years on the bareMinerals and Buxom brands.

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The JWalk team is comprised of experts that have become leaders in the art of purpose-driven creative design. Walk parted ways with the creative agency in 2013 to become President of Republic Records, with Jacob continuing to serve as the company’s Chief Creative Officer and Co-President with Lastoria.
 
Marc Rey, President & CEO of Shiseido Americas, said, “Creative power and agility have never been more important to a brand’s success. JWALK’s team members are bold, talented experts who have delivered stunning results by pushing the envelope in thoughtful, innovative and integrative ways. They bring tremendous expertise and energy in creative content, digital design, and brand building and will help our brands drive creative excellence across the board.”
 
In addition to the acquisition, Doug Jacob will be Chief Creative Director, Shiseido Americas & Founder, JWalk, and he will report to Jill Scalamandre, President of Shiseido’s Global Makeup Center of Excellence. JWalk will continue to work with new and existing, non-competitive clients.