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Tag: agency

Martin Agency is Ad Age’s 2023 Agency of Year

Richmond advertising firm The Martin Agency has been named Ad Age’s 2023 Agency of the Year, a year after being named as a standout on the trade publication’s A-List.

Ad Age, a global media outlet covering the marketing and advertising industries, cited Martin’s record; the ad agency posted its second-best year of growth in its nearly six-decade history with a 30% revenue increase in 2022. That included 40% organic growth from existing clients and seven new accounts, Ad Age said, adding it lost only one: Coinbase, which the agency declined to re-pitch. That was before a Twitter dustup between Martin CEO Kristen Cavallo and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong after Cavallo corrected the cryptocurrency company executive after he appeared to take credit for the use of a QR code in a Super Bowl advertisement, tweeting that “no ad agency would have done this ad.”

“Except an ad agency did do that ad,” Cavallo responded.

Cavallo

Following the exchange, Cavallo became an “unintentional hero” for an industry that’s been dismissed and undervalued, Ad Age wrote, adding that Martin has become a “beacon” for the industry.

“It was the dissing of the industry that I think is like a cancer and it not only feeds a client’s perspective of the value of advertising, but it feeds the industry’s perspective of its self-worth. That affects the talent that we’re able to attract and the ideas that we come up with,” Cavallo said to Ad Age about the incident.

Cavallo, who started her ad career at Martin in 1994, has been the agency’s CEO since 2017. In November 2022, she was also appointed global CEO of MullenLowe Group, for which she previously served as U.S. president and chief strategy and growth officer. She now leads 20 offices worldwide across 13 companies.

Martin’s other clients include Geico, Old Navy and UPS, for which Martin rolled out two limited-edition fashion lines last year during Fashion Week to promote the shipper’s “Proudly Unstoppable” charity supporting minority-owned small businesses. Martin also oversaw redesigns of UPS’s express boxes with distinctively colorful illustrations to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and women- and Latino-owned businesses.

Ad Age announced Martin’s win on March 13. It also cited the company’s agency of record relationships with a majority of its clients, including a notable win in August 2022 when it was named AOR for Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC’s Bud Light seltzer brand and Bud Light Next, a zero-calorie beer.

In December 2022, Martin named Tasha Dean its first chief revenue officer, a role in which Dean will focus on intellectual property.

Martin’s win follows other agency highlights. In 2021, it was named Adweek’s U.S. agency of the year for the second consecutive year.

Editor’s note: As earlier version of this story incorrectly stated a timeline for a Twitter exchange and has been updated to reflect that The Martin Agency declined to re-pitch Coinbase before the tweets quoted in the story. 

Telus International to acquire WillowTree for $1.2B

Charlottesville-based WillowTree Inc., recently recognized by Adweek for being one of the fastest-growing agencies in the nation, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Canadian tech company Telus International Inc. for $1.225 billion, Telus announced Thursday.

The acquisition is expected to close in January and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Under the agreement, Telus International will acquire WillowTree for a total enterprise value of $1.225 billion, which includes $210 million of assumed debt, of which $125 million will be settled in Telus subordinate voting shares.  Approximately $160 million will be reinvested by certain eligible management team members and settled subject to certain performance-based criteria, and the remainder will be paid in cash upon closing, according to the news release from Telus.

As part of the transaction, majority stakeholder Insignia Capital Group will sell its stake in WillowTree after initially investing in the company in 2018.

Founded in 2008, WillowTree is a software company with roots in mobile app design and development. It has 13 global studios in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Poland and Romania and more than 1,000 digital strategists, designers, engineers and project managers.

“We are excited to share today’s news alongside Telus International, announcing that we will unify our teams and missions to design, build and deliver premium, disruptive and human-centered outcomes for some of the most admired brands in the world,” said WillowTree CEO Tobias Dengel  in a statement.

WillowTree works with brands including Fox, CBC, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Marriott and others. Its 2021 revenue total was $140 million.

Telus is a communications technology company with $17 billion in annual revenue and operates in 28 countries.

“Since Telus International’s inception in 2005, our company has grown, evolved and expanded our global team and capabilities by organically building, selectively partnering and strategically acquiring, which has positioned us to consistently capitalize on market opportunities as the pace of demand for digital solutions grows,” Telus International President and CEO Jeff Puritt said. “Today marks the next step in our company’s journey, and I look forward to working alongside the talented members of the WillowTree team to jointly raise the bar for ourselves to better envision, create and implement high-impact, technology-powered brand connections that fuel customer loyalty and establish and maintain industry market leadership for our clients.”

 

Two Va. agencies make Adweek’s fastest growing U.S. agencies list

Two ad agencies that call Virginia home have landed on Adweek’s 2022 list of the fastest-growing U.S. ad agencies, the publication announced Monday.

Richmond-based creative agency Dotted Line ranked third on the list of Adweek’s fastest-growing agencies in the Southeast, and No. 22 on the list of the nation’s 75 fastest-growing agencies. Charlottesville-based Willow Tree ranked No. 8 for the Southeast and 60th on the national list.

To be eligible for the list, agencies provided three years of earned revenue data (2019 through 2021) and must have posted at least $250,000 in 2019 revenue.

Dotted Line Founder and CEO Lauren Sweeney started the agency in 2014, and it has grown from six employees to more than 20 full-time workers and about 10 fractional/part-time employees. Sweeney wants Dotted Line to be seen as a top boutique agency in the mid-Atlantic in the next seven to 10 years. Dotted Line’s clients include Bon Secours Mercy Health and Spinnaker Consulting Group. About half of the agency’s clients hail from Central Virginia and the rest are based around the country.

According to Adweek, Dotted Line grew 217% from 2019 to 2021. Sweeney attributed the agency’s growth over the past three years to setting a clear vision and goals, as well as being values-driven.

“I think it’s a proof point for all the hard work we’re trying to do for our clients,” Sweeney said. “We’re really a client-first agency and really work to understand our client’s business and how we can best help them grow their business and brand.”

Charlottesville-based WillowTree Inc., a software company with its roots in mobile app design and development, has expanded to seven global studios, according to Adweek. WillowTree experienced 90% growth between 2019 and 2021, according to Adweek. The company led design and development for the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show app, Fox’s first weather app, and work for Dairy Queen, according to Adweek. Founded in 2008, the company has more than 1,000 employees. Its clients include HBO, National Geographic, Hilton, McDonald’s and other Fortune 500 companies.

“This past year has been one of significant and steady growth for WillowTree,” Chief Marketing Officer Keith Miller told Virginia Business. “We continue to add more of the world’s most admired brands to our client roster. We expanded our geographic footprint with new offices in Vancouver and Porto Alegre, Brazil. And our team is now over 1,000 strong.”

WillowTree’s three largest offices are in Charlottesville; Durham, North Carolina; and Columbus, Ohio. Since 2008, the company has delivered more than 700 native mobile apps, websites and other digital products.

“Recognition from outlets like Adweek is a testament to the world-class work being done by our team and to the outcomes we’ve achieved in partnership with our clients,” Miller said.