Independent agencies merge to form ‘growth engine’ for brands
Untmd Marketing has merged with Chiquita and Co PR to become a single digital marketing and public relations agency, aiming to stand out as a new “go-to growth engine” for brands.
Founders of the respective agencies, Maria Kathopoulis and Chiquita Searle, will work together to drive outcomes for clients.
Now named Untmd Media, the combined entity will blend data-driven strategy with earned media influence. It hopes to help build brands with creative visibility, while meeting commercial needs to actually move the needle.
(L-R): Maria Kathopoulis, Chiquita Searle
Kathopoulis founded Untmd Marketing in 2022 following several chief marketer gigs at brands including Alloc8, On The Ball Global, and Acero Drip. Services have included social media marketing, website development, SEO, and influencer marketing.
Under the new name, Kathopoulis will serve as chief marketing officer, responsible for strategy and execution across paid media, SEO, web, and performance campaigns.
Searle founded her PR agency in 2015, specialising in helping small businesses scale. She is also the founder of Femmecon, a community organisation to support women embracing femininity, and hosts the podcast, Femmepod.
Searle will be chief communications officer at Untmd Media, where she will lead the visibility and communications strategy, blend cultural insight with PR, elevate founder brands, and drive audience growth across earned and owned media channels.
Kathopoulis told Mumbrella the merger addresses a “clear gap” in the market.
“Marketing performance and brand visibility are too often treated as separate strategies,” she said.
“By unifying our executional depth in digital, paid, and strategic advisory with Chiquita’s mastery of PR, we’re delivering a truly integrated growth engine.”
The combined entity aims to leverage fully integrated earned media strategies to drive conversations, which the co-founders claim will solve the long-standing ROI gap in traditional PR.
“At UNTMD Media, we’re not just landing logos, we’re building authority that converts,” Searle told Mumbrella.
“This is about creating stories that drive real impact, elevate brand credibility and connect visibility with bottom-line growth.”
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
Chiquita & Co PR
Chiquita Searle
digital
digital marketing
Maria Kathopoulis
PR
UNTMD Marketing
UNTMD Media
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