Agency Red Antler has purchased a majority stake in Fat Earth, an Austin-based creative performance marketing agency. With the purchase, Red Antler will also formally establish Red Antler Group, now composed of Red Antler, Fat Earth and Wild Fruit, its presentation design agency.
Fat Earth is known for its work with brands including Graza, Our Place, and Magic Spoon. The partnership will allow both companies to leverage the other’s core expertise to help create and scale brands.
“We are huge fans of John and the business he has built, and we’re excited to support this next chapter of Fat Earth. Through this partnership we have two teams that are passionate about the intersection of brand and growth, and together we’re poised to help solve the challenges that leading companies face today as they navigate the intersection of thoughtful brand building and data driven performance,” said J.B. Osborne, co-founder and CEO of Red Antler.
Osborne said that the agency has seen success with WildFruit, and the partnership with Fat Earth will further expand the capabilities of Red Antler Group with a leading creative performance marketing agency.
“Fat Earth will support our clients looking to further their brand’s reach, and we will help Fat Earth by making introductions and supporting their growing team and capabilities,” said Osborne.
Fat Earth founder and CEO John Gross said that Red Antler gives the agency access to the types of business that allow its creative approach to performance marketing to flourish.
“We believe we’ve found the sweet spot between brand and performance, and it will be game changing for us to have the creative force of Red Antler helping drive the brand side of the equation. In addition to their reputation and impressive client work, the partnership also allows us to consolidate some of our operations and leverage Red Antler Group’s resources and expertise to fuel our growth,” said Gross.
Osborne said that, with Fat Earth, Red Antler can leverage both agencies’ core expertise to help create and scale brands. He added that Red Antler Group companies will remain independent entities, and Gross will retain full control of the day to day operations of Fat Earth.
“Red Antler Group establishes a formalized network of like-minded, complementary businesses, and makes it easier for us to refer clients to each other and capitalize on our individual strengths,” said Osborne.
The executive structures of each individual agency will remain mostly the same, following the transaction, but two Red Antler employees, CFO Rich Pacheco, and chief people officer Hannah Lindsey will be elevated to Red Antler Group.