Amplify – the global creative agency that joins the dots between people, brands and culture – is further extending its B2B experiences offering by partnering with Wonder, the award-winning B2B and B2E (business-to-employee) events innovator whose clients span Adobe, Android, Klarna and Google for Education.
The partnership sees Amplify back Wonder by becoming majority shareholders, re-enforcing both agencies’ ongoing commitment to the B2B experience, supporting and boosting Wonder’s leadership and innovation as B2B experiences continue to evolve post-pandemic. Although the two agencies will operate as distinct independent businesses, they will collaborate when opportunities arise.
The partnership will help both agencies broaden their offerings while nurturing global growth, by uniting Amplify’s reputation for insightful, strategic and creative thinking with Wonder’s outstanding design credentials and proven track record in delivering large scale B2B and B2E events, experiences, conferences and launches.
The announcement comes as Wonder strengthens its team to further realise its long-term ambition of shaking-up the worlds of B2B and B2E events and marketing, broadening the offer to cover more longform campaigns and experiences that help businesses think differently about building meaningful connections through an audience-first approach.
New hires include Dan Keene (formerly Director of Brand Experience at ENGINE and MD at Slice) as Director of Strategic Development, Jessica Charles (formerly Co-Head of Agency / Head of Operations at Black Tomato) as Head of Campaigns and Jess Richards as Executive Producer. The partnership also sees Founder Ben Turner move to CEO, Scott Micklethwaite promoted to MD, David Crease move to Creative Director and Mike Dennis becoming Head of Production.
Amplify launched in 2008 as a youth-focussed B2C brand experience agency, and has evolved by applying its culture-driven approach to the world of B2B, which now accounts for nearly 30% of the business, resulting in stand-out global events, experiences and campaigns for Facebook, Google, Hubspot, Pinterest and Netflix, amongst many others. Amplify was recently named Campaign’s Global Brand Experience Agency of the Year.
Amplify’s Founder and Global CEO, Jonathan Emmins, said: “Amplify’s roots were as a youth-focussed B2C agency, because back then they were ‘the hard-to-reach audience’. Bombarded with messages, all audiences are now ‘hard-to-reach’, no more so than the world of B2B. This has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. B2B audiences demand and deserve more. Together, we will take an audience-first and campaign approach to B2B and B2E experience and marketing. Working with Ben Turner – Wonder’s driving force – we’re creating a home for who we consider the best and most progressive in the industry”.
Notable and recent Wonder highlights include Google’s largest event in EMEA, leveraging Santander’s sponsorship of the Champion’s League and launching BT’s rebrand to key stakeholders. Wonder’s Founder and CEO Ben Turner added: “The world of work is constantly evolving and we want to help businesses meet these ever-shifting expectations. Whether it’s exploring new technology, creative innovation or simply a desire to find better ways of connecting, we constantly want to challenge the status quo. And with Amplify now helping make the vision a reality, we’re even better placed to help B2B and B2E create real creative, cultural and commercial impact.”
