Independent agency Connelly Partners (CP) has acquired McCarthy Mambro Bertino (MMB), the creative agency behind campaigns for Subway, Sam Adams, and Toyota. CP has also won a series of global client wins and added key talent across its Boston, Dublin, and Vancouver hubs.
“We have always been committed to relentless creativity and measurable accountability in our work,” said Steve Connelly, president and copywriter at CP. “The moves we are making and the talent we are bringing aboard are reflections of that commitment.”
With a 20+ year legacy and deep roots in Boston’s creative scene, MMB joins CP’s global independent micro-network. MMB’s work has earned recognition from the Clio Awards, Emmys, Effies, The One Show, and more.
MMB’s category experience includes automotive, QSR, retail, sports and healthcare, working with brands like Toyota, Subway, Sam Adams, Yale New Haven Health System, Newell Rubbermaid (Elmer’s and Brute), Foster Grant, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and more.
MMB will retain its brand within CP, while tapping into the network’s full suite of services to expand its offerings for larger clients. The MMB team will also build towards integrating across the CP network–as ZOO Digital and VRX Studios have done.
Fred Bertino, MMB co-founder and president, will continue to lead the MMB brand within CP, reporting to Connelly. A former president and CCO at Hill Holliday, Bertino helped scale that agency to over $1.2 billion in revenue before co-founding MMB.
“MMB and Connelly Partners have been successful rivals for two decades. Coming up as creatives, both Steve and I share a fervent love and belief in the power of insight-based creativity to propel brand and business growth,” said Bertino. “Now we’ll amplify that with deeper strategic and performance chops and global reach. By partnering with CP, we’re bringing clients full-service capabilities with the creative they’ve come to know us by.”
David Register, longtime creative lead at MMB, joins CP as executive creative director. He brings a wealth of storytelling, writing, and directing experience to the agency, with a portfolio that includes iconic campaigns like Fidelity’s “Keep Doing What You Love,” featuring Paul McCartney, and Progressive’s “Flo,” as well as work for Aetna, New Balance, and CenturyLink. He reports to Alyssa Toro, chief creative officer.
CP has made several other leadership hires:
Jen Hansen joined as Director of Analytics. Hansen brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles, including VP, marketing optimization and analytics at Constant Contact and global head of business analytics at Vistaprint. In her new role, Hansen spearheads CP’s efforts to elevate measurement, empowering clients worldwide to unlock critical insights and make more confident, data-driven decisions. This strategic appointment lays the groundwork for advanced capabilities, including forecasting, predictive analytics, and machine learning, to further enhance agency offerings. Hansen reports to Michelle Capasso, chief media officer.
Jimmy Murphy becomes deputy managing director, Dublin. Murphy joins from ACNE Dublin, part of Deloitte Digital where he served as chief commercial officer. He’s also held roles across Publicis Dublin, The Hive, alcohol brand marketing compliance organization CopyClear, the Marketing Society, and IAPI. He reports to Dublin managing director Vaunnie McDermott.
And Sam Moorhouse and Mikey Fleming join as co-creative directors. They’ve been a creative team since 2011, partnering at TBWA/Ireland, Boys + Girls, and later founding Verve’s in-house agency, Showrunner. Their work for brands like Three Mobile, Aldi, SKODA, Lyons Tea, Tayto, VHI, and LEGO have earned multiple awards. They join Register, ECD Mike Garner, digital specialist and CD Chris Preston, and CCO Toro, under a unified global creative offering.
