BBDO Acquires a 70-Person Creative Agency
BBDO adds the Cincinnati-based Barefoot to its global direct and digital marketing network
BBDO adds the Cincinnati-based Barefoot to its global direct and digital marketing network
BBDO added an ad agency to its roster: Cincinnati-based Barefoot. The creative shop will become part of BBDO’s Proximity Worldwide Network, a subsidiary that includes direct, digital, sales promotion, and event marketing.
Barefoot and BBDO became acquainted over the past several months while working for the same client. BBDO claims to have been interested in Barefoot for several years, while Barefoot sees the new parent as providing the agency with a strategic advantage.
“I think the big advantage for us is our ability to tap into the resources and organizational knowledge contained in BBDO. So many situations we face, they’ve faced somewhere in their networks,” said Doug Worple, Barefoot CEO. “We both hope we will pitch new business together.”
Worple sees additional advantages to being part of a larger agency. “We think that with the fundamental forces changing the agency landscape, we will be better suited to serve as part of a larger agency, to serve large multi-national companies,” he said.
About 60 to 65 percent of the shop’s work is digital, and Barefoot has done interactive work for clients including Dawn; Mickey’s malt liquor; Pitch in for Baseball, an organization for kids in need; and Owenemma photography studios.
Barefoot will continue to be based in Cincinnati with its 70-plus employees and work autonomously at BBDO. When appropriate, the agency will collaborative with other BBDO teams on client pitches. “Everything is pretty much business as usual from a Barefoot standpoint, there’s no reorganization or anything like that,” said Worple.
Worple remains Barefoot’s chief executive. When the acquisition was announced yesterday, immediately his e-mail signature was updated to say “Barefoot, a BBDO Company.” Barefoot partners continue to hold shares in the agency.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
More about:
Lucy helps organizations leverage knowledge for in... View Tech Talk
TVSquared is the global leader in cross-platform T... View Tech Talk
Grata is a B2B search engine for discovering small... View Tech Talk
Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing ... Download Now
Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. ... Download Now
This report documents the findings of a Fireside c... Download Now
Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touc... Download Now
Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...
View resourceData is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...
View resourceThis report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...
View resourceCustomers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...
View resourceMarketers today need to thoughtfully select visuals that align with their content, boost SEO performance and drive ROI Read More...
View articleHow the sunglasses giant created subconscious brand recall value with music festival-goers through the power of strategic partnerships and experientia...
View articleIn life, as much as on LinkedIn (or Facebook, Twitter, etc.) people and brands who blabber on about themselves become annoying and best avoided, soone...
View articleBuilding trust in your brand is hard enough. Now take a situation where your audience is so cynical of your product offering some of them even call fo...
View articleThere is room for better lead capturing as ABM evolves in a cookieless world Read More...
View articleTop-of-mind action points that will be valuable to challenger brand marketing for the rest of 2021 and 2022 Read More...
View articleOmnichannel marketing presents an opportunity to marketers but requires better use of data Read More...
View articleThe dark horse your business needs to outperform competition and win at search Read More...
View article