Mekanism has acquired Zapiens Design, a Madrid-headquartered boutique agency with a track record of transforming digital design and UI/UX for some of Europe’s most prominent brands. The 20-person Zapiens team brings soup-to-nuts experience crafting digital identities that weave brand, business, and experience together. Its distinctive approach to human-centric design has been recognized by Red Dot, Cannes Lion, Awwwards, and Laus.
Zapiens helps to further establish Mekanism’s burgeoning digital offering, which spans a spectrum of digital capabilities including digital strategy, consumer and employee experience, UX/UI, digital product and service design, and data & 1:1 CRM services.
“By welcoming the Zapiens team to our in-house digital design studio, we offer clients the creative agility necessary to thrive in today’s competitive landscape,” said Jason Harris, founder and CEO of Mekanism. “Coming from a creative hub like Madrid, Zapiens injects fresh design thinking and an entrepreneurial energy to our digital practice. With this digital design powerhouse in our toolbelt, we are better positioning ourselves to win more full-funnel business.”
Over the last half-decade, Mekanism has scaled its talent and resources to provide integrated value for clients. It launched a media & intelligence vertical in 2018 and invested in a performance division as well before building out its digital capabilities. Last year, Mekanism incorporated the agency Eleven to become the flagship US creative agency for its parent network Plus Company. Mekanism plans to continue to expand its offerings through organic and inorganic growth opportunities.
“This is a right place, right time partnership for two agencies on similar growth trajectories,” said Miguel Gomez, Zapiens co-founder and CEO. ‘We’ve been hungry to break into the U.S. market and in Mekanism we’ve found the right strategic platform to make that possible. We’re joining a fantastic digital team at Mekanism and are excited to help clients rethink how products, brands, and services can come together.”
Netflix’s subscriber growth is slowing, but its profit and stock price are still surging
Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service's crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.
The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year.
Even so, the company's revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.
Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers โ far more than any other streaming service.
The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company's revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.
The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix's stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company's shares so far this year.
"We had a plan to reaccelerate growth and we delivered on that plan," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during a video call discussing the results.
The past quarter's subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch... Read More