Stagwell Acquires Fast-Growing Creative and Social Agency Movers+Shakers

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.

“We wanted to be allied with people who have that same innovative spirit, fast paced, with a belief that the industry can do much better than it’s done in the past … Stagwell has done an amazing job at collecting incredible entrepreneurs,” said Horowitz.

Strengthening the entrepreneurial spirit

In Movers+Shakers, Beth Sidhu, evp, chief brand and communications officer at Stagwell, saw the chance to add award-winning capabilities to the network, including mainstream social, and evolving digital platforms.

“It really goes along with our interest in supporting innovative entrepreneurs. We have a lot of founder-led agencies and we also emphasize collaboration and complementary skills among the agencies,” Sidhu told Adweek.

Joining the Constellation network is a good puzzle piece fit for both the group of partner agencies and Movers+Shakers, and Goldberg said that being surrounded by and working with many of its founder-led agencies will be inspiring.

“It’s exciting to think about working together and finding ways that we can kind of combine forces when it makes sense … Running a shop can sometimes be a lonely job, and working with amazing teammates and having other partners that you can relate to and you can work alongside, and those who are also pushing and innovating, that’s really exciting for us,” said Goldberg.

Movers+Shakers’ leadership will continue unchanged, and there will be no changes in how the agency operates, save for its collaborative efforts within Stagwell.

Movers+Shakers marks Stagwell’s fourth acquisition of the year, following Left Field Labs in October, Tinsel Experiential Design in July and In the Company of Huskies in April. Madison Alley Global Ventures served as the exclusive strategic M&A advisor to Movers+Shakers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“With their fluency of platforms, the team at Movers+Shakers has proven itself to be the foremost authority when it comes to helping brands create cultural relevance with Gen Z and millennials,” said Justin Lewis, chair of Constellation. “Their penchant for innovation goes hand in hand with our challenger mindset and will be a boon for those clients eager to create influence and awareness among today’s social-first consumers.”

The first joint clients have yet to be announced, but Movers+Shakers is looking forward to offering expanded services for its clients.

“Our mission is to spread joy. [Our clients] feel that the work that we’re doing is so different and innovative, and they know that anybody that we are allying ourselves with is going to bring that same secret sauce, and they’re really excited for more of that,” said Horowitz.