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The Marketing Zoo absorbs Digital Stampede and rebrands to Zoo Republic

Zoo RepublicSydney-based promotional marketing agency The Marketing Zoo has merged with sister agency Digital Stampede and changed its name to Zoo Republic.

The merged brand has 56 staff, now all housed in The Marketing Zoo’s premises in Pyrmont, with Digital Stampede’s staff moving across.

CEO David Lo said that the merger comes after the agency’s “best ever year” in its 13-year history.

The Marketing Zoo launched Digital Stampede three years ago, with George Weston Foods, KFC and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as founding clients.

The merger comes a little under two years after the exit of The Zoo’s co-founder and CEO Brad Hellegas, who sold his stake in the business to David Lo.

“Even in a business like digital, the tyranny of distance can prove difficult. Both agencies had strong capabilities, but just weren’t close enough to be a powerful combined force. The merger and the move has helped us truly put digital at the core of our business,” Lo said.

The agency has picked up new clients including Toys R Us, Optus, Australia Post and Diageo, which The Marketing Zoo won after a below-the-line review last June. Existing clients include Treasury Wine Estates and Carlton United Breweries.

“The convergence of strategic expertise, creativity and technological innovation has us moving down a road of developing business solutions beyond just campaigns,” Lo added.

Jon Slade, head of digital strategy, said: “While the formal merger was only inked in December 2012, the two agencies decided to change the business model almost a year ago to the day with a view to collaborating more powerfully, changing inter-agency behaviour and ultimately outputs.”

Lo pointed out that Zoo Republic had not yet updated its website. “Brand purists will probably open fire on us for not having all our new branding facing the business community or our website updated simultaneously. However, after seeing Rebecca Van Dyck from Facebook present at Circus last week I am ‘prepared to move fast and break things’ when it comes to our own brand. With the merger more than a year in the making, I just want to get it out there, even if in Beta. We can fix the rest as we go.”

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