Social Publisher ATTN: Launches an In-House Creative Agency

The social publisher ATTN:, which specializes in creating content specifically for consumption on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, announced the launch of its in-house creative agency on Thursday morning. The agency will open a third line of business for ATTN:, which currently generates revenue through brand partnerships and production studio offerings. The publisher anticipates that the agency could generate as much as 25% of its total revenue by the end of the year, according to chief operating officer Taryn Crouthers. ATTN: is profitable and growing, Crouthers said, but declined to share precise financials. ATTN: began hiring for the new agency in January, and it now has 60 full-time staff. In total, ATTN: has roughly 150 full-time employees. The entertainment and media company Candle Media, cofounded by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, purchased ATTN: in May, reportedly for $100 million. But while the acquisition will infuse the social publisher with capital and expand its capabilities, ATTN: began building out the agency in January, according to a source familiar with the matter. It was able to finance the effort prior to being acquired, as the deal only officially closed in mid July. Nonprofit Newsroom Verite to Launch, Serving New Orleans "We're excited about growing outside of a social publisher and into a creative agency," Crouthers said. "We want to use all of the same best practices that we've curated—being nimble and scrappy, the data we have from billions of views, the insights—to create new kinds of content as an agency." The launch comes amidst a shifting economic environment that has accelerated a trend among media buyers: working more deeply with fewer partners. As publishers vie for marketing budgets, more media companies have begun expanding the number of services they can offer in order to increase deal size. The social publisher will create campaigns across a variety of channels ATTN: is distinct among traditional publishers for its social-first nature, and its track record of creating engaging social content helped convince leadership that it could sell its services to brands. It currently reaches 19 million people across all social platforms, according to the publisher. The new agency will create campaigns across a mix of channels, including social, out of home, television and print. Although new, it has already struck deals with clients including Amazon, Indeed, Madewell and HBOMax. In some cases, as with Amazon, the agency allows ATTN: to expand the size of existing deals by incorporating full-service creative into client relationships. The new division has also landed new business, though the publisher declined to offer an example. ATTN: anticipates that the agency will help bolster its client retention rate, which it declined to share. Examples of the campaigns it has created include a product launch, a rebrand, a CSR campaign and reputational work, according to Crouthers. ATTN: brought in outside experts to staff the agency The new agency is led by two key figures: group strategy director Liz Medina and managing director Ray Kang. Medina joined in February from FCB Chicago and MRM/McCann, and she brings 15 years of experience to the role. She joined ATTN: specifically to spearhead the new agency. Kang was promoted internally earlier this year, but prior to ATTN: he worked at Virtue, the in-house creative agency at Vice, where he served as the global client lead. Together, the two will manage the 60-person team and work with clients across a range of services, including creative, strategy, client services, project management and production. "We feel uniquely positioned because our roots as a publisher have allowed us to make the kind of content that people are naturally opting in to and engaging with," Crouthers said. "We are bringing all of that to advertising."

Creative Advertising

Social Publisher ATTN: Launches an In-House Creative Agency

The agency has hired 60 staff since January

Mark Stenberg

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Mark Stenberg