This year’s batch of burgeoning midsize shops comprises some big-name brands that nonetheless maintain a leaner workforce. Here are the Fastest Growing medium agencies (51-200 employees).
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Movers+Shakers was one of the first agencies to venture into the TikTok space, and it’s found booming success at the forefront of the social revolution.
Founded in 2016 as a collaboration between Broadway performer and director Geoffrey Goldberg and marketing expert Evan Horowitz, Movers+Shakers has grown exponentially through its smart use of culture and social media, elevating brands through TikTok and other platforms. The agency now has offices in New York and Los Angeles.
“We were one of the first agencies to identify TikTok as an emerging platform back in early 2019, when it was very fringe,” Horowitz says. “Our early work on TikTok became quite famous—it made TikTok famous.”
The agency first worked with cosmetics company e.l.f. to develop the #eyeslipsface hashtag challenge and a 15-second original song called “Eyes.Lips.Face.” Since that blew up on the then-fledgling social platform, Movers+Shakers has gone on to create successful campaigns for other brands, including Amazon, Mattel and Match.
The agency recently surpassed 150 billion views on its TikTok campaigns, but Goldberg and Horowitz note that it isn’t just a TikTok agency.
“One of the things that allowed us to keep growing is that we keep innovating and helping find new ways for brands to connect to culture,” Horowitz says. “We want to help them build cultural relevance, cool-factor buzz, and that’s why brands are really flocking to us in a big way.”
To keep up with that culture, the agency looks not only to social media, but also to microcultures and influencers, and it has started offering unique nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to super fans in order to raise awareness and interest in brands through the bidding process, and courting brand collaborations, as it did successfully with e.l.f. and Chipotle on a food-inspired makeup line.
Goldberg says the agency is building an agile model that lets it listen constantly to cultural conversations and activate campaigns quickly.
“That’s what’s led to a lot of these really cool campaigns, because they’re really culturally relevant,” he says.
For its ability to keep a finger on the pulse of culture and execute viral campaigns, Movers+Shakers tops Adweek’s Fastest Growing agencies list, with over 2,000% growth over the past three years. —K.O.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
RingoFire isn’t shy about letting its clients know the founders started the shop without ever working for an ad agency. In fact, they gave themselves the moniker “unagency” as a nod to their paths through brand marketing and corporate offices to the creation of the Greenville, S.C.-based agency.
“I managed many agencies when I was at the corporate level, so I knew what I liked and didn’t like about them,” says founder Brian Stearns, who is a partner alongside brothers Richard and Marco Carrizales. “I decided to kind of build something that was more like a support system consultancy with agency-type people.”
Stearns says RingoFire, which quickly outgrew its office and has moved into a four-building campus at an old weaving mill, has been doubling its revenue every year since it was founded, while tripling revenue growth in the past year due to its clients’ successes during the pandemic—the agency works heavily with home improvement and consumer goods brands. In total, its three-year growth amounted to a staggering 746%.
RingoFire, which bills itself as a full-service agency with a full production studio, works with Lowe’s, specifically on some of its house brands like Cobalt and Project Source, and it recently launched its first national TV spot on Discovery for Apex Tool Group. —J.F.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
As the CEO of Digible, a Denver-based agency that specializes in multifamily and apartment marketing, Reid Wicoff wants to embrace industry innovation while ensuring every employee is aware of their value. Since founding the company in 2017, Wicoff has hired 53 full-time employees and over the past three years, revenue has grown 460%. He attributes that growth to Digible’s supportive work environment, which he says facilitates a feeling of job security.
According to Wicoff, “Will I be left behind?” is a common sentiment among marketing professionals as technology continues to develop, which is why he remains determined to craft a people-first culture.
“We need to make sure people are developed properly in the industry and know they have value,” he says. “That culture is a big part of why people love working here. In 10 years from now, you’ll see the same faces.”
Wicoff stressed that helping marketers take pride in their work is a crucial part of employee retention. As the company continues to develop, he is most focused on maintaining that supportive camaraderie while embracing technological innovation.
“We work for each other and not for ourselves, and people are encouraged to be super curious,” he says. “That’s a big part of what drives innovation and better strategy.” —E.L.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Billion Dollar Boy is a global agency that connects content creators with creative brands to deliver influencer marketing campaigns. The agency has produced over 42,000 pieces of content, activated campaigns across 48 countries and in more than 17 languages and sees influencer marketing as a discipline, not an add-on. The main sources of the agency’s growth have been new business, repeat business and referrals. —Kennyatta Collins
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Phiture is a mobile growth consultancy that uses cutting-edge analytics and deep domain expertise to help its clients grow their mobile apps. Aiming to be leaders in mobile growth in particular, the agency provides App Store optimization, retention and CRM, and a host of premium services to help its clients establish competencies they can eventually take on themselves. —K.C.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Thinkingbox is a global creative collective shaping the future of brands like Adobe, Intuit, Riot Games and Pinterest with a diverse team that blends business with technology and creative storytelling. Even though the pandemic proved to be a fierce challenge, Thinkingbox leaned on its core services, and instead of layoffs, it tripled its staff during 2020 and early 2021. —K.C.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Boasting 55 offices on six continents, Cheil embodies the global agency model with precision and versatility. The agency boasts its speed to market and adjusting to market changes. Its primary growth has come from fostering and enhancing a long-standing partnership with Samsung, with a recent focus on the U.S. market. —K.C.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Whalar is driven by tech to leverage influencers and data. As Covid-19 transformed the market’s focus, Whalar pushed new ways of production and took advantage of growth generators like TikTok. The agency leans into connectivity over promotions and has won two Cannes Lions. —K.C.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Cashmere is an award-winning lifestyle marketing agency that utilizes social media, creative strategy, experiential, influencer marketing and public relations strategies to provide full-service support for campaigns and brands, and it excels at connecting through community and culture. With its proprietary Dope Data Systems, Cashmere has the capability of identifying trends and quantifying its efforts for its clients. —K.C.
Rank
Name
Industry
Location
Growth
Size
–
Arts & Letters is a relatively new company, but one with a collective entrepreneurial spirit and an empowered and open way of working that its clients have come to value. The agency can quickly pivot to make the work better for its partners and the work environment better for its employees. “We are a group of realistic optimists whose philosophy is summed up not by any proprietary process but by an attitude of ‘we’ll figure it out’—a phrase we inscribed on the wall when we first opened our doors,” founder and ecd Charles Hodges tells Adweek. —K.O.