MERGE, a unified agency with an uncommon combination of capabilities in strategy, creativity and technology, is launching today in three cities—Chicago, Boston and Atlanta, CEO Ron Bess has announced.
All told, five marketing agencies compose MERGE:
- HY Connect, Chicago
- MERGE Design + Interactive, Chicago
- Partners & Simons, Boston
- Dodge Communications, Atlanta
- AVID Design, Atlanta
This full-service agency will concentrate on five core capabilities: strategic brand planning, creative and design, digital/tech development, and contact planning across paid, earned and owned channels.
“The name MERGE reflects our belief that a collaborative business model leads to better results for our clients,” explained Bess, who is based in Chicago. “This branding is part of our continued evolution as a unified creative and media agency with a technology capability that allows us to go beyond the typical agency scope.”
The three MERGE offices will be branded, MERGE Chicago, MERGE Boston and MERGE Atlanta, each going beyond traditional digital communications to provide clients full service enterprise solutions equal to those most common among high-tech digital specialist agencies and tech consultancies.
The newly formed operation is already seeing success in its offering, having recently landed accounts and assignments from brand marketers including Marco’s Pizza and LivaNova.
“Our agency’s background in building enterprise solutions like Digital Asset Management and Digital Marketing Engine platforms in-house for clients allows us to conceive and develop digitally rooted business solutions for them as well as brand communications,” MERGE Atlanta President Tom Brand said. “Artists and scientists often have trouble speaking the same language. The same is true of marketing and IT people in business, who often have different priorities. We help them find common ground.”
“Our clients have access to a broader set of expertise, capabilities and services, now with the added flexibility to create purpose-built teams from a much deeper pool of talent, especially in media and technology,” MERGE Boston President Andrew Pelosi explained.
