CompassPoint Will Become Part of Mediahub

IPG media agency network Mediahub is growing with the addition of Minneapolis-based media agency CompassPoint. Also part of the IPG family, CompassPoint will move from McCann WorldGroup to Mediahub through the remainder of 2020. With the completion of the transition, Mediahub’s new combined billings will be over $2 billion, and it will have over 550 employees across the U.S., according to a statement. CompassPoint will rebrand as part of Mediahub in January of 2021, extending Mediahub's reach to the Midwest. "Mediahub and CompassPoint have both stood out relative to their peers due to their ability to connect creativity and deep insights to reach and engage consumers," IPG COO and IPG Mediabrands chairman Philippe Krakowsky said in a statement. "We saw an opportunity to bring together two strong media players with complimentary specialties, geographies and sector experience. This combination will further help clients achieve their strategic business goals." Sean Corcoran, who was promoted to Mediahub U.S. president last year in a leadership expansion and then U.S. CEO at the start of 2020, said it made sense to align the media agency within Mediahub for future growth. In early 2018, Adweek named Mediahub U.S. Media Agency of the Year following a year in which the agency won 14 of 16 pitches. While Mediahub's leadership expansion in 2019 came on the heels of a year of growth, the agency was hit hard by the business impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In April, Mediahub went through a round of layoffs across its U.S. offices. "There were a few different reasons we all wanted to do this now. McCann and Mediahub have been working more and more together on clients like Ulta and Fuji Instax, and together with IPG, we saw this an opportunity to bring this relationship even closer together," Corcoran told Adweek. "We saw the benefit of pairing two complementary media specialists together to enhance our collective scale, expertise, resources and U.S. footprint going forward." CompassPoint chief connections officer Melissa Schoenke will continue leading operations in Minneapolis after CompassPoint becomes part of Mediahub. "Joining Mediahub is a win for both our clients and our teams," Schoenke said in a statement. "We share a similar challenger mindset and culture, and a creative approach to media that drives performance. Now with enhanced access to Mediahub’s suite of consumer planning, data and insights, and innovation resources, we look forward to continuing to deliver clients breakthrough strategy and media activation." The move gives CompassPoint access to the resources of a larger media agency, including Mediahub's performance resource group and innovation groups as well as proprietary consumer tools and resources. Mediahub, which already has East Coast offices in Boston and New York, and a West Coast office in Los Angeles, gains a Midwest hub. "Minneapolis is incredibly attractive because it’s home to some of the best and most iconic Fortune 500 companies, and is also close to Chicago, another magnet for great brands," Corcoran told Adweek. "This move also expands Mediahub’s portfolio. We're starting to move into more CPG and more pharma, categories where CompassPoint has a long history and strength, which allows us to gain even more stature and more institutional knowledge in those two important categories."