INVNT acquires storytelling strategy firm, Folk Hero

Folk Hero specialises in bringing story strategies to the executive level, creating brand narratives to emphasise the brands’ operating and organizing principles.

The firm helps its clients develop unusually compelling brand narratives, architecture, identity and tone-of-voice, all underpinned by a robust research methodology and deep understanding of contemporary consumer behaviors.

The move sees INVNT provide these brand strategy services to both new and existing clients, as complementary to or independent from the agency’s existing live brand storytelling offering, and that of its fast-growing branded content studio, HEVĒ.

Folk Hero was established by award-winning brand strategist Rob Klingensmith, who has spent more than 20 years crafting brand stories for fashion, lifestyle and tech brands. He has previously held roles at Omnicom-owned advertising agencies Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and TBWA in San Francisco, as well as Marcel Worldwide in Paris, where he led a global brand strategy team.

Klingensmith says: “A folk hero is a story so good it has to be told—it’s a memorable, elemental narrative that far from fleeting, lingers in a person’s memory long after their first encounter, and demands to be shared. Developing these stories is what drives me, and I am thrilled to be joining an agency that shares this passion for brand storytelling in all forms.”

As CEO, Klingensmith will lead and grow Folk Hero’s offering as a part of the INVNT and HEVĒ family.

Klingensmith will work out of INVNT’s New York headquarters and report to the group's chief creative officer, Paul Blurton.

Blurton says: “Folk Hero is the ideal complement to the live and digital brand storytelling capabilities provided by INVNT and HEVĒ.

“Working as we do across numerous industries and clients, it’s always so refreshing to meet companies that have devoted time and effort to creating their own master brand narrative. It becomes the wellspring for every other creative expression of that brand. This is what Folk Hero does so effectively, and it’s why this acquisition makes so much sense.”

Kristina McCoobery, COO at INVNT, says: “INVNT’s acquisition of Folk Hero ladders up to our overarching vision to be the best brand storytellers in the world. We recognize that to achieve our vision, we must evolve our offering to meet our clients at whatever stage of the storytelling cycle they need us.

"At a time when many of the old rules of marketing are changing, we believe that the brands with the best stories, told well, will win. And when our clients win, we win.”