DASS is a digital and shopper marketing boutique agency focused on delivering both strategy and execution to improve the performance of marketing activation.

While it is headquartered in Singapore, the business has a global footprint and works with enterprise clients “to enable shopper excellence across a multitude of online and offline services”.

The firm was established in 2018 by Wayne Cowden, a retail and shopper marketing specialist with over 20 years’ experience, having worked with Barrows and WPP across a number of regions.

DASS provides clients with comprehensive insights and strategies to convert shoppers into buyers across both physical and digital channels.

The company’s FLOW platform removes the need for coders or developers, and DASS said it was “disrupting the way brands, agencies, and designers generate interactive shopper/consumer microsites”. It enables brands to digitise retail engagements and POS materials, while also capturing rich first-party data.

DASS will continue to be led by Cowden, who will also be part of the ADM Group senior leadership team in APAC.

The deal builds on three prior acquisitions by ADM Group since 2020, and significant investments in technology and sustainability, and follows the recent strategic investment from private equity investor Equistone Partners Europe.

Cowden commented: “We are really excited to join ADM Group, our businesses are complementary, and our combined offerings and talent provides clients with a unique end-to-end service that delivers performance marketing and executional excellence.

“With ADM’s scale, expertise, and capabilities, we can now offer our clients insights, strategy, and creative solutions that not only influence shopper conversion but also provide them with capabilities to procure and execute an end-to-end management eco-system that many clients are seeking.”

Ed Colflesh, global CEO of ADM Group, added: “DASS is a hugely exciting acquisition for ADM and the brands we support. As a team, we made a conscious decision to transform the industry we are in, and this acquisition paves the way for us to do just that.

“The capabilities of DASS are hugely complementary to our strategy and will provide our clients with a seamless end-to-end solution.

“As we have seen over the past few years, digital and the digitalisation of point-of-sale material will continue to be a massive part of brands’ strategy, and we now have the tools to capitalise on the opportunity.

“DASS has a brilliant team and technology, and we cannot wait to transform marketing execution together.”

Earlier this year ADM, which defines itself as “a global marketing execution partner to the world’s leading brands”, appointed its prior global CEO Justin Barton in the new role of executive chairman, with Colflesh becoming the new global CEO.