Stagwell acquires Wolfgang; Doner names a new chief creative officer
Stagwell bought a minority stake in Los Angeles-based Wolfgang in 2019.
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Stagwell has acquired West Coast agency Wolfgang, and has named Wolfgang’s three co-founders to new positions within the Doner Partners Network.
Wolfgang Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Colin Jeffery becomes Doner’s new chief creative officer, a position left vacant since Tito Melega left in the spring after only five months. Wolfgang Co-Founder and CEO Mike Geiger becomes the CEO of the Doner Partners Network's production studio, Cahoots. Wolfgang’s other founder, President and Chief Strategy Officer Seema Miller, will be charged with leading “strategic and new business initiatives” across Stagwell, according to a statement by the holding company.
“By adding Wolfgang to the [Doner Partners Network], we are supercharging our creative abilities and creating an even stronger presence on the West Coast, an area of great growth and opportunity for Doner and the DPN,” said David DeMuth, chair and CEO of Doner Partners Network.
Wolfgang, which has been around for five years, made a splash in January when it created a futuristic-looking electric vehicle called “Thundertruck,” which was a product of its IP division. Other notable work from the Los Angeles agency includes a Brawny ad that features a giant singing lumberjack and a campaign for Panda Express that celebrates Asian Americans.
Stagwell had initially bought a minority stake in Wolfgang in 2019.
Some of Wolfgang’s clients include Adidas, Halo Top, Men’s Warehouse and Jos. A. Bank.
Other agencies in the Doner Partners Network include DonerNorth, Yamamoto, HarrisX, Veritas (which has its own content studio called Meat & Produce), KWT Global, Cahoots, and Dyversity Communications, which was acquired in April. Almost one-third of Doner’s current client engagements are built on a partnership that includes two or more DPN agency partners, according to DeMuth.
“Doner has an incredible legacy and has created a wide range of iconic work over the years,” Jeffery said in a statement. “The agency’s ‘At the intersection of Modern & Main Street’ positioning is smart, widely relatable, and very much in tune with the times."
Doner has more than 400 employees in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Detroit and Connecticut. Its clients include Jeep, Johnson & Johnson and Cue Health.
