Stagwell has acquired agency Movers+Shakers in a move that adds social media prowess to the Stagwell network. Movers+Shakers will join Stagwell’s Constellation network of agencies, which includes 72andSunny, Instrument, Colle McVoy, The Harris Poll and others.
Movers+Shakers was founded in 2016 and quickly disrupted the industry, becoming known as the “TikTok whisperers” for the agency’s expertise with social media, and specifically TikTok, helping brands like e.l.f., Netflix and Neutrogena reach the coveted Gen Z and millennial audiences. It has become the go-to agency for brands looking to be bold on social media platforms, with 250 billion campaign views to date.
New business momentum includes 21 new clients in 2023, including being named social media and culture agency of record for Tinder and creative and culture agency of record for Elemis. The agency made Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies list the past three years, topping the list in 2022.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t get pigeonholed as a TikTok agency. Now this year, we’re winning AOR contracts for the first time,” Movers+Shakers co-founder and CEO Evan Horowitz, told Adweek.
Scaling up by joining a network
Horowitz said that Movers+Shakers decided to join Stagwell after being independent for seven years because the agency wants to impact its clients’ businesses at a bigger scale, and in order to do that, he and co-founder and chief creative officer Geoffrey Goldberg were looking for like-minded agencies they could partner with, who have adjacent capabilities they needed, like media, experiential and data, as well as the ability to go global.
“A lot of our clients want us to go activate with them globally. And that’s something that right now we don’t have access to. So rather than wait to build that organically, we wanted to find the right partner who would help us very quickly leapfrog to that level which our clients are actively inviting us to be out with them,” said Horowitz.
Considering its huge growth numbers—when it topped Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies list in 2022 it listed a growth rate of over 4,000%—Movers+Shakers had plenty of suitors and options, but it chose Stagwell because of its support of agency entrepreneurs. Horowitz said that in Stagwell his agency found a group of like-minded innovators who are looking to disrupt the industry.