Brew Group acquired by Cosmo5 as marketing group expands SEA footprint

Singapore-headquartered Brew Group has been acquired by global marketing group Cosmo5, expanding the latter’s presence across Southeast Asia and Taiwan while adding capabilities spanning creative, performance marketing, SEO and generative engine optimisation (GEO), content and social, and marketing technology.

Founded 17 years ago by founder and managing director Marcus Ho (pictured right), Brew Group employs more than 60 people across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. It operates through two brands, Brew Interactive, which serves enterprise and mid-market clients, and LiteBrew, a growth marketing partner for small and medium-sized businesses.

Its client portfolio includes Nikon, Hitachi, Cybozu, LG, Epson, National University of Singapore, TotalEnergies, BMW, Shopify and Recorded Future.

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The acquisition brings Cosmo5’s Asia Pacific headcount to more than 250. It also expands the group’s offering across performance marketing, media buying, programmatic and tracking, SEO and GEO, creative production, social and influencer marketing, and marketing technology.

By combining Brew’s local capabilities with Cosmo5’s international network across media, commerce, creative, data and technology, the two businesses will target opportunities to help global brands expand in Southeast Asia and regional brands enter international markets.

For clients, the combination is intended to provide access to a broader set of capabilities across markets, from creative and performance marketing through to search, AI visibility, content, social and marketing operations and CRM.

Brew Interactive and LiteBrew will continue to operate under their existing brands, with Ho and the current management teams remaining in place. There are no planned changes to day-to-day operations.

Speaking exclusively with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Ho said the acquisition comes as clients increasingly look for agencies that can connect specialist capabilities rather than simply add more vendors.

“Southeast Asia has no shortage of marketing agencies that can run campaigns,” Ho said. “What mid-market and enterprise brands here struggle to find is one partner that can deliver creative, performance marketing, SEO and generative engine optimisation, content and social, and marketing technology to a high standard – and tie all of it back to revenue.”

Ho pointed to a World Federation of Advertisers survey of multinational marketers representing more than US$69 billion in ad spend, which identified what it called a “roster paradox”, with marketers simultaneously consolidating agencies while adding specialist partners.

The result, he said, is that clients do not necessarily want one agency to handle every discipline. Instead, they want a partner capable of making specialist capabilities work together, reducing the burden of coordinating multiple vendors and tying activity back to commercial outcomes.

“Clients don't want one agency that does everything. They want one partner that makes everything work together. The pain today isn't a lack of specialists; it's the cost of coordinating them,” he said.

The acquisition also gives Brew greater scale as it looks to compete for larger regional and global mandates.

Ho said that while Brew had built a strong boutique business across Singapore and Southeast Asia over its 17 years, it had not been winning as many larger regional and global assignments as it wanted. Cosmo5’s international network will allow the agency to extend its reach while retaining its existing local capabilities.

Technology was another consideration behind the deal. Cosmo5 has developed a creative intelligence tool that analyses advertising before launch and predicts potential performance based on established marketing models. It also has its own marketing mix modelling capability, alongside GEO and brand sentiment tools.

For Brew, access to these tools provides capabilities that would require significant investment for a boutique agency to develop independently.

The combined offering also reflects a shift in what clients may expect from agencies as AI speeds up execution. Ho expects greater emphasis to be placed on strategic judgement, with agencies increasingly required to advise clients on where to allocate budgets, what to stop doing and how buyer behaviour is changing.

Brew has been building towards this model over the past three years, strengthening its creative production and SEO/GEO capabilities while embedding AI across its delivery, operations and sales workflows.

The agency’s capabilities will now sit alongside Cosmo5’s wider international network. Brew has teams across five markets and produces content in six languages, while Cosmo5 brings global reach across media, commerce and data.

Together, the groups aim to connect creative, performance marketing, SEO and GEO, content, social and marketing operations and CRM across markets, giving global brands a route into Southeast Asia and regional brands a pathway to international markets.

Jean Kerboul (pictured centre), Europe and APAC CEO at Cosmo5, said the acquisition would strengthen the group’s ability to deliver across key markets while creating new opportunities for employees.

“At Cosmo5, we believe that true transformation is powered by people. With Brew Group joining us, our family grows to over 250 people across Asia-Pacific,” Kerboul said.

He added that the two businesses shared similar cultures and values, with the acquisition bringing together their expertise while opening up global career opportunities for employees.

Cosmo5 was founded in 2001 as Labelium and renamed in 2025. It now has more than 1,400 employees across 32 offices in 19 countries and brings together 29 specialist agencies under one group. Its clients include LVMH, L’Oréal, Breville, Clarins, Google, Verizon, Royal Canin, Meta, Warner and Dassault Systèmes.

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