Revolving Door Agency Moves: Deutsch, Hanson Dodge, PMG & More

The fall frenzy is upon us and agencies everywhere are landing new clients, launching new products, and making key partnerships. Check out this week’s new moves.

BarkleyOKRP

The National Pork Board has named BarkleyOKRP as its new agency of record following a formal review. The assignment includes a fully integrated marketing approach for pork, tapping into a wide range of brand and marketing strategies. As the National Pork Board’s general consumer marketing agency, BarkleyOKRP will strategize and develop branding and marketing solutions to increase the everyday consumption of pork products among younger Americans.

Barrett Hofherr

Barrett Hofherr just got a bit bigger by acquiring Oakland-based Funworks. This move marks a significant step in Barrett Hofherr’s continued growth and reinforces its vision of advertising as a potent blend of optimism and innovation. Funworks, known for its unique approach combining sketch comedy, improv, and design thinking has been around for eight years. As part of the acquisition, Funworks co-founder and CCO Craig Mangan will join Barrett Hofherr working alongside founder and CCO Jamie Barrett and executive creative director Todd Eisner. 

Coegi

Coegi, a digital media agency owned by True Independent Holdings, has launched Coegi Canada, marking an expansion of its North American operations. The company has appointed industry veteran Rodney Perry as president of Coegi Canada.

Creatures United

SailGP, a sailing race, has announced a partnership with Creatures United, a creative platform to raise awareness around biodiversity, kick-starting at New York Climate Week 2024. Throughout the upcoming 2024-2025 season, Creatures United will be embedded in Impact League milestones, with the Creatures helping tell stories about the positive environmental impacts generated by SailGP athletes and the league.

Curious Jane

Curious Jane has been ranked as one of the nation’s top franchise marketing agencies for the sixth consecutive year by Entrepreneur magazine. Based in Lakeland, Florida, Curious Jane works with national franchise clients including Kumon North America, WellBiz Brands, and Subway. 

Deutsch

Deutsch LA has officially rebranded to Deutsch, marking a new era for the agency. Deutsch’s longtime Los Angeles leaders now become the sole name bearers and stewards for the brand. Four years ago, Deutsch LA officially split from Deutsch NY to pursue its own path. The split affirmed the individuality of Deutsch LA and eventually led to Interpublic’s sale of Deutsch NY.

Five by Five

Independent creative agency Five by Five has acquired TSA, a fast-growing, London-based influencer, social media, and content creation agency. The acquisition sees Five by Five further bolster its offering, which is seeing strong growth and momentum in the U.K.

Fusion92

Fusion92, a marketing transformation partner, has appointed Kevin Dean as executive vice president of data partnerships, a newly established role within the company. Dean brings a wealth of experience to Fusion92, having previously served as president and general manager at Experian.

Grandmerci

Brand expert Kasia Bannon, who most recently led the North American arm of WPP’s Design Bridge and Partners, has launched Grandmerci, an independent branding company across B2B and B2C, while simultaneously removing the corporate barriers which often get in the way of creativity and client relationships.

Hanson Dodge

Lixil, maker of water and housing products, has named Hanson Dodge (HD) its new integrated strategic media agency partner in the Americas, following a competitive review. Under the new alignment, HD will be responsible for strategically integrating all media activities to support Lixil Americas’ key consumer brands: American Standard, Grohe and American Standard Home Services.

Horizon Media

Horizon Media has launched a major climate awareness campaign with outdoor media specialists JCDecaux and Intersection coinciding with the United Nations Climate Week in New York City. The campaign, “Calculate Weight,” aims to educate, inspire, and engage the public on climate change issues through interactive, out of home digital displays across New York City and Horizon Media offices.

Juice Media

Juice Media, an omnichannel media and advertising platform, has acquired high-growth mobile/social performance agency Mooko Media and prominent linear and streaming specialist Media Design Group (MDG). The Mooko Media deal closed in April 2024,
and MDG closed in August. These strategic acquisitions extend Juice Media’s digital marketing capabilities, enhancing its position in media measurement and attribution.

Klick Health

Klick Health announced the round two results of its $1,000,000 Klick Prize after awarding a combined $200,000 to four employee teams who contributed game-changing AI ideas for healthcare companies. The company will be turning the winning ideas into prototypes for commercialization. The third round of the Klick Prize opens in October.

Laughlin Constable

Laughlin Constable has been named the full-service creative and media agency of record for Travel Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s Department of Tourism. LC was awarded the business following a competitive review that included agencies from the Midwest and across the country. The agency served as its AOR from 2009 to 2019 and prior to that from 1985 to 1999.

Mediavine

Mediavine, the largest exclusive full-service ad management firm in the U.S., is celebrating its 20^th anniversary by announcing the return of the Mediavine Conference in 2025, bringing together publishers, advertisers, and industry experts to explore the latest trends and technologies shaping the digital publishing landscape. The conference reaffirms Mediavine’s commitment to its publishing community and its approach to new technologies that protect both creators and the open internet. 

Milk Agency

New York-based full-service agency Milk Agency has been awarded work for brand strategy, social media, and content creation for newly-launched smart fitness brand amp. The agency will be responsible for activating new branding on social media and launching the product successfully across the U.S. 

MindgruveMacarta

MindgruveMacarta, a global performance marketing, retail media and data-tech company, has officially become one of Emarketer’s first retail media data partners in LATAM. This exciting partnership enables Emarketer to share MindgruveMacarta’s extensive retail media data, providing benchmarks enabling brands to evaluate performance and advance strategy in Latin America.

Modern Citizens

Creature London, Positive London, and Positive Netherlands, including TikTok agency Dunkd, have joined forces and will officially rebrand to become Modern Citizens, a new agency designed to meet the evolving needs of modern brands. Uniting the capabilities of creative, integrated digital and content creation agencies, Modern Citizens is made up of over 100 people with offices in London, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Mower

Leading independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency Mower has captured the gold award for North American Agency of the Year in the 2024 B2B Marketing Elevation Awards. The employee-owned agency also earned 11 accolades for client campaigns across a range of creative and digital marketing categories.

New Engen

New Engen, a digital marketing agency, has acquired Donut Digital, a creative-led performance marketing agency based in Manhattan Beach, California. Donut Digital’s acquisition will allow New Engen to create a full-service content studio, meeting client needs across all stages of the customer journey.

Ogilvy

The Ogilvy Residency is the latest chapter in the agency’s associates program, which is one of the key ways that Ogilvy has cultivated diverse talent and helped shape the agency’s and industry’s future over the last 20 years. The new name draws inspiration from founder David Ogilvy, who called the agency a “teaching hospital of the advertising world.” Some key changes for 2025 include removing undergraduate degree requirements, and two distinct tracks for emerging talent to gain hands-on experience: strategy and business. Applications open in November.

One Club for Creativity

The unique opportunities and challenges faced by in-house teams is the focus of The One Club for Creativity’s upcoming “Brand-Side: For Creatives Within” conference, taking place October 16-17 at The Bridge Building in Nashville. The newly expanded two-day conference is designed to help internal creative teams attract and retain talent, as well as build a creative culture within a more traditional brand structure.

PMG

Global independent marketing services and technology company, PMG, is transitioning the RocketMill brand to PMG, as the integration of the two businesses completes. The move creates a global powerhouse of 900+ marketing and technology specialists, fully integrated across strategy, media, creative, and data/analytics – all powered by technology and amazing people. PMG acquired the U.K.-based agency last December.

Quorum

Quorum, a unified data optimization platform for marketers and publishers focused on driving actions, outcomes, and commerce at scale, has closed its seed funding round. The investment, which includes Crush Ventures and Dudley Fund, will help Quorum to accelerate growth and innovation in alignment with strong demand.

Rise and Shine and Partners

Following a national search, Best Buy has selected Rise and Shine and Partners as one of its primary agency partners. The independent, full-service brand and creative agency will bring the retailer’s recent brand refresh to life across digital campaigns, leading the development of Best Buy’s display portfolio.

Schrom x Yacht Club

Schrom x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and post-production company, has teamed up with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR—a virtual production collective.

TravelBoom Hotel Marketing

Coral Cove Wellness Resort, an oceanfront boutique property in Little Bay, Jamaica, has chosen TravelBoom Hotel Marketing for its paid search and metasearch. TravelBoom specializes in developing and executing customized, data-driven marketing solutions that drive direct bookings and growth for clients. The luxury destination recently tapped hotel marketing agency TravelBoom to construct its marketing program for new visitors.

VideoAmp

VideoAmp, a tech-first media measurement company, will now integrate data from outcome providers across these categories directly into its proprietary data and tech engine ValidTM to deliver faster, more accurate and holistic representation of conversions following ad exposure on linear TV, streaming and digital channels.