Last week Stagwell Inc. [1] (NASDAQ: STGW) who describe themselves as the challenger network built to transform marketing, announced the acquisition of Goodstuff, a 130-strong, full-service media planning and buying agency based in London.
Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn told us “We welcome Goodstuff as a critical part of our strategy to create a truly global and competitive media operation. When we created Stagwell Media Network, we set out to build a collaborative and coherent network of global media agencies that are on the leading edge of media, data, and technology,” “The addition of Goodstuff with their unrivaled track record of innovation continues to deliver on our vision of transforming marketing.”
The Goodstuff team will join the Stagwell Media Network, a group of leading multichannel agencies home to more than 3,000 experts with an expansive global footprint across 20 countries and 40 offices, managing close to USD five billion in media. The network offers an alternative to the status quo provided by today’s legacy holding companies. As a more dynamic B2C and B2B partner, with solutions spanning media, data, technology, and content, Stagwell Media Network is growing in double digits during a period of sustained transformation and expansion.
Goodstuff brings complementary and additive client services, including communications strategy, full-funnel media delivery, and inventive solutions for premier clients, including Ovo, AA, On The Beach, Yorkshire Tea, Cazoo, and Hello Fresh. As a first-class brand and highly respected business in a key global market, Goodstuff will further extend the media network’s innovation, scale, and creative thinking.
James Townsend, Global CEO of both Stagwell Media Network and the network’s flagship media agency, Assembly was quoted as saying “I am delighted to welcome co-founders Andrew Stephens and Ben Hayes and the entire Goodstuff team into the network. What attracted us to the agency were their world-class leadership and unwavering focus on people, culture, and the work. After a series of successful collaborations with Assembly in the UK, we see the potential for our network to build something truly differentiated, progressive, and exciting in the marketplace.”
Goodstuff will continue to deliver inventive planning, buying, data, and digital services for progressive and ambitious brands and will now be able to provide an additional range of solutions from across Stagwell. Coming on the heels of their 10-year Omnichannel planning and buying anniversary, the company will maintain operations under the Goodstuff brand based in London and led by co-founders Andrew Stephens and Ben Hayes.
This is the first full acquisition since the combination of Stagwell and MDC partners in August 2021. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.