Deloitte Digital Acquires Heat

By Erik Oster 

Deloitte Digital has acquired the full-service San Francisco advertising agency Heat. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of investments for Deloitte Digital and results in what it refers to as “the world’s first creative digital consultancy.”

“Deloitte Digital has created a new market category called creative digital consulting,” explained Deloitte Digtal CEO and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Andy Main. “Adding Heat’s extraordinary and award-winning creative capabilities is the perfect complement to our market-leading and long-established digital business. We are the single place for our clients to go to connect business strategy with creative strategy and content, customer experience, core business operations, transformational technology, and campaign execution. We combine creative chops with the powerful Deloitte platform to help our clients find their own disruptive advantage.”

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Heat was founded by current chairman and executive creative director Steve Stone in 2004, growing in eleven years to a team of 112. The agency was named Adweek’s Breakthrough Agency of the Year in 2015, following a year which saw the agency develop high-profile campaigns for Madden NFL 16 and Star Wars Battlefront, as well as the arrivals of creative director Jonathan Byrne from DDB California and strategy director Molly Cabe from Pereira & O’Dell. Following the acquisition, Stone, president John Elder and managing director Mike Barrett will all continue their current roles with Heat, which will retain its brand identity under Deloitte Digital. 

“After an amazing 2015 we had a big decision to make – stay the course or shoot for bigger, more immediate creativeopportunities. We picked the latter,” said Stone. “Joining forces with Deloitte gives us a ton of opportunities. It allows us to showcase our work on a bigger stage, provides us with greater resources, and gives us access to client relationships that will allow our creatives to do the best work of their careers. Others have approached us over the years, but nothing felt right to us. We’re really fired up for this. Deloitte understands the importance of our brand and culture and will help us protect it as we grow together.”

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