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Project adds Wondersauce to indie stable

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

October 4, 2016 | 4 min read

Independent agency network Project has added another agency to its roster in award-winning digital shop Wondersauce. Wondersauce is a New York-based creative digital agency that has worked with Nike, L’Oreal, Stella Artois, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Google, Bloomin’ Brands and other high-profile brands.

Wondersauce is the 14th agency to be added to the Project network and will help draw in clients looking for a growing list of clients seeking digital solutions. The agency was founded in 2011 by John Sampogna, Eric Mayville and Seth Klassen and has since grown to over 80 employees in offices in New York and Columbus, Ohio. It was ranked 506 on Inc. 5000, Inc. Magazine’s list of America’s fastest-growing companies. Sampogna and Mayville, were featured on Business Insider’s coveted Most Creative People in Advertising 30-under-30 list in 2012. The two will serve as co-CEOs moving forward and will share a seat on Project’s Strategic Leadership Team. Klassen, who was also included on the 2012 Business Insider list, will serve as co-chief creative officer with Brett Waszkelewicz, who is a partner.

“Clients have relentless digital needs and Wondersauce is the perfect complement to the services already being delivered by our agencies,” said Project chairman and CEO Robert G. Vallee, Jr. “Wondersauce has an extraordinarily talented team of people serving the creative, marketing, and design needs of clients with digital at its core. And they do it with passion and craftsmanship that really aligns with our cultural values. We clicked with the founders from our very first meeting and we embrace their collective vision. We’re thrilled to help them scale that vision aggressively.”

The agency made the move to not only help it grow, but to help recruit and keep strong creative and digital talent.

“Talent and culture has always been and will continue to be one of our top priorities,” said Sampogna. “This move puts Wondersauce on a bigger stage to continue to attract top digital talent. Additionally, retention and molding exciting career paths for our employees is something we care deeply about. This move will continue to give our employees the flexibility to define something unique and exciting.

“We’re fiercely committed to our culture and people. Wondersauce, like Project, focuses on empowering and cultivating talent from within. And, Project has a deep bench of innovative talent at its creative, experiential, PR, and content agencies. We’re excited to bring our thinking to this collaborative network to provide opportunities for other Project agencies on the brands we steward and to gain access to the top brands already on Project’s roster,” he added.

Wondersauce will count on both its offices to keep servicing clients for Project and it hopes to expand next year to span the coasts.

“Columbus is a stand-alone office capable of delivering work from strategy through deployment. They service a set of local clients, national household brands, and also collaborate closely with our NYC team. We have initial plans to open in LA sometime in 2017,” said Sampogna.

Even with its expanding roster of agencies, Project’s ability to grow while staying independent lets it stand out among a sea of corporately held companies, and the signing of Wondersauce solidifies that.

“Project is a privately held company which allows us to remain fiercely independent from the whims of Wall Street. We are also employee owned which gives us an advantage in attracting talent. Our mix of agencies has been curated to meet the needs of today's complex multi-channel challenged CMO. Our relatively small size, combined with a global footprint, allows market appropriate, nimble and effective solutions to our clients' marketing needs,” said Vallee. “Faster, more creative solutions from agencies with sector-specific capabilities that collaborate well, without the high cost of the large networks – that's what will continue to distinguish us from our oversized holding company competitors.”

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