Month: February 2026

Strategic acquisition further strengthens integrated creative and digital growth capabilities across brand strategy, performance marketing, and Amazon marketplace execution PALAZZO served as exclusive financial advisor to Socium Media, a performance marketing and digital growth agency, in its acquisition by Front Row Group, a full service e-commerce growth and Amazon marketplace agency. The transaction expands Front Row’s connected commerce platform by adding capabilities across paid media, search, social, and digital growth.

Founded by Sam Sherman and Owen Loft, Socium has built a reputation for delivering performance-driven growth across paid search and shopping, paid social, SEO, and GEO. The agency supports brands across travel, wellness, and lifestyle, including Auberge, VINCE, Canopy, Magic Spoon, and OSEA, and is recognized for aligning brand strategy with measurable digital performance.

“Joining Front Row is an exciting next chapter for Socium,” said Owen Loft, CoFounder of Socium. “We’ve always believed that the strongest results come from aligning performance marketing with brand strategy and creative execution. Front Row shares that belief, and together we’re able to offer clients a more powerful, connected approach to growth.”

The combined organization creates a powerhouse integrated agency that brings together Front Row’s marketplace leadership, retail media expertise, brand strategy, and creative campaign development with Socium’s performance marketing and digital growth capabilities across paid media, influencer, social, and retention. Together, the teams deliver a fully connected approach and cohesive execution across the full funnel — from awareness and demand generation to conversion on Amazon, D2C, and retail platforms, where off-platform media increasingly drives marketplace demand. Socium will initially operate as “Socium, Powered by Front Row,” with full brand integration planned for later in 2026.

Deal reflects shift toward creator-led paid social, expanding New Engen’s capabilities for scalable, measurable creator content and whitelisted distribution.
 
PALAZZO served as the exclusive financial advisor to GrapevineAI, a creator-powered performance content network that helps brands produce authentic creator content and activate it at scale through whitelisted paid social campaigns.

The acquisition reflects a broader shift in paid social, as brands increasingly move budgets toward creator-produced content and whitelisted distribution, blurring the lines between creative, influencer, and media execution. With GrapevineAI, New Engen expands its creator-focused offering and addresses a key constraint in paid social: scalable, authentic creator content at volume.

“As media buying becomes increasingly automated, creative and audience access are emerging as the primary growth levers in paid social,” said Justin Hayashi, Chief Executive Officer at New Engen. “Creator-led content isn’t just a format shift—it’s becoming growth infrastructure. GrapevineAI strengthens our ability to help brands scale that infrastructure with measurable impact.”

GrapevineAI works with a curated roster of more than 700 performance-minded creators, provides strategic briefing and guidance aligned to business objectives, manages pre- and post-production and optimization in-house, and distributes creator-produced, advertorial-style content through creator and publisher whitelisting on paid social channels. This model enables brands to move beyond brand-handle-only advertising while maintaining strong CPA and ROAS. In addition to paid social, GrapevineAI supports brands with high-performing editorial, blog, and long-form creator content.

“This partnership gives GrapevineAI the scale and infrastructure to expand what we can offer brands while continuing to focus on creator-led performance,” said Caroline Levere, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of GrapevineAI. “New Engen and GrapevineAI already share clients like Arrae, Prose, and Rugiet, and this is a natural next step that allows us to accelerate our vision and deliver more creative, media, and measurement capabilities to our clients.”

This acquisition expands New Engen’s existing creator-focused performance capabilities within its broader full-funnel digital marketing offering, complementing its creative, influencer, media, and measurement capabilities. Donut Studios delivers high-volume creative from brand handles, GrapevineAI scales creator-produced content through whitelisted creator accounts, and New Engen’s influencer capability drives brand and retail partnerships.

Nick Shah, CEO of Artisan Ventures, co-founded GrapevineAI and will support GrapevineAI’s transition into the New Engen creator ecosystem. GrapevineAI was represented by PALAZZO in the transaction.