There was some reshuffling to this year’s rankings of Orange County’s largest advertising agencies as some firms reported double-digit growth while others reported a double-digit decline.
Overall, the 52 agencies on the Business Journal’s list had combined annual revenue of $2.6 billion last year, up 7% year-over-year.
The firms are ranked by 2018 sales with a minimum cutoff of $1 million.
The number of employees based in OC at the 52 agencies was largely unchanged from year-ago levels, with nearly 3,700 workers. Meanwhile, companywide employees rose 10% to about 70,500.
The list welcomed four newcomers: No. 18, Irvine’s Hooray Agency; No. 36, Merit/Andrew also in Irvine; No. 44, Truss Creative in Costa Mesa; and No. 52, MAB Digital Marketing in Santa Ana.
Of the agencies on the list, 27 reported higher revenue, eight saw no change, and five experienced a drop in revenue. Figures for the remaining 12 firms are Business Journal estimates.
Growth at Top
• Perennial leader Advantage Marketing Partners, No. 1, reported double digit growth with $1.5 billion in revenue last year, up 11%. The Irvine-based company has 1,668 employees in OC and its total staff size grew 10% to 68,177 employees. Its revenue total is about six times that of the second-largest ad company in OC.
The advertising firm is the marketing arm of Advantage Solutions Inc.
It said a number of key acquisitions last year such as Jun Group, CSSI and Take 5 Media Group as well as “significant organic growth in core areas such as digital, media, experiential and entertainment marketing” led to substantial growth.
Those developments also helped it land new business with several Fortune 500 companies in sectors like automotive, consumer electronics, travel and consumer packaged goods, according to the company.
• Innocean USA in Huntington Beach remained at No. 2 with revenue remaining flat at $250 million.
It grew both its local and companywide staff by 50 employees to 400 and 450, respectively.
The agency, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary next month, is the lead agency for Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America and Genesis Motor America.
President and Chief Executive Steve Jun said in a statement it expects continued growth citing the success of its Super Bowl ad for Hyundai Motor America titled “The Elevator,” starring actor Jason Bateman, which has seen more than 50 million views online.
“We expect continued growth from our social and digital teams supported by data science, and we are excited about new campaigns launching this spring and summer,” Jun said.
• Irvine-based Agency Ingram Micro jumped up two spots to No. 3 with $85 million in revenue last year. While the company declined to report the number of companywide employees, its local staff is 96.
• Rauxa in Costa Mesa reported double digit growth but dropped one spot in the rankings to No. 4. The agency’s revenue climbed 31% to $72 million. Staff size jumped from 270 to 321 employees but it lost three employees among its local workforce, now totaling 53.
• Irvine-based DevicePharm/Brado leap-frogged 10 spots to No. 10, making it the biggest gainer on the list. Its revenue more than doubled, increasing by 127%, to $34 million. The agency, which focuses on the medical and healthcare industry, added one employee for a local workforce of 35 and its total staff size increased from 35 to 140.
• Ad Exchange Group in Irvine is hoping to turn the tide this year after dropping four spots to No. 8. The ad tech firm saw its revenue decline 57% to $38 million.
Chief Executive Peter Nguyen said last year was tough but has “seen a significant rebound already this year.”
“2018 was AdExchange Group’s most challenging year yet as new merchant processing regulations deeply impacted our clients in the digital direct-to-consumer industry,” Nguyen said in a statement. “AdExchange has made some great shifts internally with our team to better accommodate with the changing times and putting laser focus on growing the core of our business.”
• Rhythm in Irvine stepped up to No. 23 with $9.2 million in revenue last year, up 13% year-over-year. The digital marketing agency was recently acquired by New York-based agency Code and Theory for an undisclosed sum.
• No. 35, DB&M Media Inc. in Costa Mesa saw its revenue decline by 5% to $5 million. President and Chief Executive Don Bartolo said dramatic cuts from its automotive clients like Toyota and Nissan impacted the firm’s business. He added that some of its quick service restaurant brands also “have been shifting ad dollars from traditional advertising and social networks like Facebook and Instagram into ‘purchase intelligence’ companies like Cardlytics.” So it’s been making an effort to increase client’s ROI through new platforms, experiential marketing and A/B testing, or split testing.
