Serviceplan Group takes minority stake in L&C NYC and launches Americas office

Global agency network Serviceplan Group has acquired a minority stake in L&C NYC, which in just two years since its launch has gained notoriety for award-winning campaigns such as “Piñatex” and “Malnutrition labels” for Dole.

Along with the stake, Serviceplan will officially have operations in the U.S. Serviceplan Americas will consist of the independent agency Pereira O’Dell, which sold a minority stake to the network in 2020; L&C; media agency Mediaplus, whose clients include De’Longhi, Siemens and Zeiss; and Plan.Net, a European digital agency, which is also launching in the U.S. Serviceplan has over 6,500 employees outside of the U.S. and global clients such as BMW Group, L'Oréal, German retailer Penny and Lego Group.

As part of the deal, Pereira O’Dell Co-founders Andrew O’Dell and PJ Pereira will also serve as CEO and chief creative officer of Serviceplan Americas, respectively, while keeping their roles at Pereira O’Dell.

The agencies will operate independently within the network and continue to have their own P&L, which was one attractive part of the deal for Gian Carlo Lanfranco and Rolando Cordova, L&C’s chief creative officers and co-founders. Another big selling point was L&C’s co-founders' relationship with PJ Pereira, who awarded the two creatives their first Cannes Lions award 20 years ago and has been a mentor to them.

Cordova also said the move will allow them to have help on the non-creative sides of the agency’s business to grow the business in the U.S. and globally. Currently, the agency has 11 employees and touts clients such as Dole, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Diageo and Spectrum.

“When Andrew mentioned that opportunity of joining Serviceplan Americas, we thought, here is an opportunity to take our agency to L&C 2.0,” Cordova said. “We know as creative people that we always try to strive to do the best work, but sometimes it's not about the people, it's about getting the assignments.”

“We're guides for them,” O’Dell added. “We want to be a resource of intelligence and try to keep them from making some of the mistakes we made [early on].”

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While each agency will continue to operate on its own, the agencies within Serviceplan Americas will eventually start to work and pitch together. O’Dell recognizes it might take some time for the group to create awareness in the U.S. market.

“It’s going to take a while for people to really get to know the Americas brand and that they can use this as a group,” O’Dell said. “I think there's going to be global opportunity that we’ll be able to find, but we just want to keep the momentum with POD, keep the momentum with L&C, and create momentum for Serviceplan Americas.”

Pereira O’Dell, which turned 15 this year, earlier this year adopted a “national model,” retiring the notion of the agency operating bicoastally. Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, previously president of Pereira O’Dell East, shifted into the role of chief growth officer, overseeing new business, PR and marketing, and culture and talent development. Natalie Nymark, previously president of Pereira O’Dell West, was named national president of the agency. 

All of the agencies will be housed in a new New York office that opened in January in SoHo at 490 Broadway.