Creative collective will bolster multichannel
brand storytelling and creative production capabilities at
Allison
NEW
YORK and LONDON,
Feb. 22,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the
challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced it
has acquired Sidekick, an award-winning collective of specialist
agencies focused on experiential, digital storytelling, and branded
content. Sidekick will join Allison, a global marketing and
communications consultancy within Stagwell.
Sidekick will join Allison, a global
marketing and communications consultancy within Stagwell.
"Sidekick is at the forefront of storytelling and will be an
essential part of the challenger marketing network we are building
in Europe," said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. "As we
embark on our next chapter in Europe, I'm excited to welcome Duncan and
Ollie to our network and see Allison continue to transform its
content innovation capabilities."
The addition of Sidekick will further expand Allison's footprint
in Europe and introduce
capabilities in the market that are critical for a new era of
integrated brand storytelling. It adds tremendous synergies to
Allison's existing core competencies of strategic communications,
influencer marketing, digital, performance marketing and data
analytics.
"After a successful period of collaboration with the Sidekick
team, we are delighted to have them officially join the Allison
family. The organisation that the Sidekick founders have
built together with their colleagues delivers an impressive suite
of services that complements those already offered by Allison and
leads with a strong and supportive culture that aligns with our
own," said Scott Allison, Global
Chairman of Allison. He added, "As we continue to expand our
operations throughout Europe,
Sidekick will form an integral part of this growth story."
The Sidekick Group launched back in 2021 when experiential
agency Kreate and content agency Many Makers came together to form
a strategic arm of the business, capitalising its collective
expertise on behalf of clients. Kreate delivers 'real-world'
activations for clients, specialising in brand experience and
live events. Many Makers is a video and brand content agency
that uses digital storytelling including social media, video
production, gamification and AR/VR content on behalf of the wider
group.
Sidekick Co-founders Duncan
McCaslin and Ollie Burgoyne
will remain as Managing Directors of their respective teams and
both will join Allison's European management team. Directors
William Howe and Stephen Bradley will also move across in their
current roles. No other staffing changes are planned.
"The acquisition represents a significant leap forward in the
growth of Sidekick and our people. Having seen our collective teams
work successfully together over the last year or so, we knew that
joining with Allison and Stagwell was the logical next step. We see
this as the perfect time to combine forces, further enhancing our
collective capabilities and ensuring that we continue to deliver
outstanding results for our clients," said Duncan McCaslin, MD of Sidekick and Kreate.
"This is an extremely exciting next step for Sidekick. Having
worked alongside the team at Allison for the last two years, we
quickly realised that we share the same vision and values. I
can't wait for our teams to work as one and to be a part of the
exciting growth plans that Scott and team have in place," added
Ollie Burgoyne, MD of Sidekick and
Many Makers.
This acquisition comes amid a significant European acceleration
at Stagwell, which has in recent months appointed James Townsend as CEO, EMEA, and launched a
regional hub at the Blue Fin Building in London to connect its 15+ agencies and over
1900 employees within the region.
Sidekick is Stagwell's second acquisition of the year, following
the purchase of Team Epiphany, a culturalist creative agency
connecting brands to multicultural consumers, in January 2024.
About Stagwell
Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the challenger network built to
transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the
world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity
with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of
marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+
countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive
effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join
us at www.stagwellglobal.com
About Allison
Allison is a global integrated marketing
and communications consultancy dedicated to driving growth,
innovation, and positive change for clients, colleagues, and
communities. With a diverse range of expertise and a
forward-looking mindset, Allison delivers game-changing results
that make a lasting impact. Allison is owned by Stagwell (NASDAQ:
STGW), one of the fastest growing and most influential marketing
and communications networks in the world. Agency partners leverage
Stagwell's technology, data analytics, insights and strategic
consulting solutions to drive measurable results and optimize
return on marketing investment for more than 1,700 clients
worldwide. Learn more at www.allisonworldwide.com
Stagwell PR Contact
Beth
Sidhu
pr@stagwellglobal.com
Stagwell IR Contact
Ben
Allanson
ir@stagwellglobal.com
Allison PR Contact
Kate
Lynch
kate.lynch@allisonworldwide.com
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SOURCE Stagwell Inc.