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Poke New York rebrands as Makeable following Publicis buy-out of its London parent company

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

September 19, 2013 | 3 min read

Poke New York, an agency born from its recently sold parent company Poke London, has re-launched as Makeable, a new digital innovation company.

The Drum reported today that Publicis Groupe had acquired Poke London from its four founding shareholders as well as ad agency Mother, which held a 50.01 per cent stake.

At the same time, Poke New York founders Michael Kantrow and Tom Ajello, announced the agency’s relaunch, confirming they had completed a management buyout from its London parent company in advance of Publicis’ acquisition.

As part of the deal, Mother will remain a minority investor in the newly-formed Makeable, along with new strategic investors, including Rob Dickson, formerly of MDC Partners.

“Our clients and partners have made innovation a top priority across their organisations,” said Kantrow. “Makeable is able to meet this tremendous challenge and business imperative with a disruptive approach shaped by what we call unconventional wisdom - a powerful combination of digital strategy, design thinking, deep technical expertise manifest in an agile creative and technology development process. We’re a company that’s not only focused on creating real value for our clients but is increasingly vested in the growth we’re creating. This allows us to scale the business in ways not possible in most agency or professional services models.”

Poke New York’s clients have all transitioned into the new company, including NBC Universal’s The Weather Channel, 19 Entertainment, American Express, Avon, Coach, Dell, Dyson, MoMA, Penguin Books, and Sephora.

Makeable will build upon Poke New York’s success by focusing primarily on design-led business creation, product development and brand innovation engagements for both Fortune 500 and mid-tier companies.

“Every time you turn around there is another mega-agency ‘roll-up,’” added Ajello. “Their intended message is ‘bigger is better’. The truth is that it’s a tremendous competitive advantage to fiercely maintain your independence and agility. That’s why we are winning the all-out war for innovation engagements and outstanding design and technology talent. Our primary motivation isn’t size, its quality.”

Kantrow and Ajello also announced the naming of Gardenia Willoughby and Ryan Fleming as partners in Makeable as well as the creation of a new advisory board which will include former MDC managing director Rob Dickson.

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