SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2015) - Wire Stone, a top 25 independent digital marketing agency working with global Fortune 1000 brands, today announced record 43% year-over-year EBITDA growth to go along with the celebration of the company's 15-year anniversary. The occasion leads the agency to reflect on its history as well as its recent achievements and current momentum.
From the company's beginning, Wire Stone has realized the unique advantages of being an integrated agency, purposefully blending the talents of personnel with varied perspectives including copywriters, creatives, developers and business strategists and combining their insights to best serve clients. Teaming problem-solvers with different but complementary backgrounds and skill sets with strategy, creative, and technology has proven time and time again to provide for the best interests of clients, and Wire Stone has been at the leading-edge of this trend as other agencies seek to provide more universal capabilities. Wire Stone's reputation as a desired workplace for top creative and technological-savvy minds continued in 2014, as the agency grew another 15% to exceed 200 employees spread out over eight offices.
Wire Stone, formed in the year 2000, grew out of an alliance by five boutique agencies that converged with the goal of becoming more than the sum of their parts. To unite these separate office locations, the company drew up the Wire Stone manifesto, championing collaboration, transparency, creativity and accountability as essential to forging a new agency every employee could be proud to work for. Scoring successes together bonded the new co-workers as well, a factor that adds strength to those long-distance working relationships to this day.
Another key moment was the decision to operate under a single P&L. "It was that decision that opened our long hallways for good," said Tony Schlangen, Chief Operations Officer, Wire Stone. "In the first handful of years each office kept track of its own profit & loss, including labor. Managing Directors had no incentive to share talent or work with each other. By converting to a single P&L model, it opened the doors at the end of each hallway, allowing us to not just work together but to learn from each other. It continues to be a strength that differentiates us from others."
Schlangen said, "Wire Stone will continue to evolve, improve and optimize now, next year and forever. It is required in order for us to connect with the needs of the changing marketplace our clients are facing. There is still much to do."
However, after 15 years some things have never changed, he said. "We continue to create cool stuff. We embrace transparency. We encourage entrepreneurial spirit. We value strong client relationships. Work-life balance remains a focus. Giving back to our communities is important to each of us. We love our craft and moving the needle for our clients."
But most of all, it continues to be the quality of the people. "Our team's talent is undeniable, but it's the quality each person possesses as human beings that matters. We care about each other. We're friends. That is why we're special. That is why we continue to be relevant. That is our secret sauce," Schlangen added.
The quality of the digital work Wire Stone produces has led to deep relationships with clients like Motorola and HP (a trusted partner of more than 13 years), won continued interest from international brands in varied verticals such as Microsoft, Nike and Boeing, and most recently earned the agency exciting new clients like Hortonworks, the big data company which Wire Stone helped see through an IPO.
"Wire Stone has enabled us to up-level our marketing during a critical growth period," Marc Holmes, Marketing Director, Hortonworks. "They deliver a potent mix of strategy, creative, and technical skills that augment and enhance our in-house team, allowing us to execute with greater scope and scale to deliver terrific results."
"Wire Stone was founded on the idea that we could create for ourselves the place where all of us wanted to be working -- and with an average employee tenure of more than 5.25 years that is double the agency average, we think we have a pretty special place," said Dan Lynch, CEO, Wire Stone. "By the end of 2014 we had completed more than 900 projects designed to create meaningful brand-consumer connections and deliver measurable results -- and we're darn proud of that work."
About Wire Stone
A leading independent digital marketing agency, Wire Stone is the trusted partner of global Fortune 1000 brands -- including HP, Microsoft, Intel, Boeing, Motorola, Facebook, and Carbonite. We are defined by our ability to activate through insight and elevate through story, leveraging our deep understanding of the customer lifecycle and the value of compelling brand experiences. We deliver marketing strategies and solutions based on customer insight to help clients rise above the din and stake out advantageous brand positions. Our creative, technological, and analytical acumen propels our clients' business forward. See our work and get in touch at www.wirestone.com.