Acart Communications has acquired a Toronto firm whose clients include the Royal Bank of Canada and fast-food chain Harvey’s as the Ottawa-based advertising agency expands its footprint in the nation’s most populous market.
Acart, one of the National Capital Region’s oldest and largest agencies, closed the deal to purchase Giants & Gentlemen Advertising last month. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded 13 years ago, G&G is a relatively small firm with a handful of full-time employees. But under the leadership of founders Natalie Armata and Alanna Nathanson, the agency has racked up multiple industry award wins and accolades on the strength of its campaigns for high-profile clients such as RBC, Harvey’s, hotel chain Days Inn, German food processing giant Dr. Oetker and cough lozenge brand Fisherman’s Friend.
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Acart partner and chief revenue officer Andrew McWiggan said the acquisition further cements the Ottawa company’s presence in the Greater Toronto Area, where it already employs seven people, and boosts its profile in the highly sought-after consumer packaged goods sector.
“They’re a phenomenal firm,” McWiggan said of G&G. “We were looking to further expand into that region, so it was really a great unity of two brands.”
G&G will remain a standalone division of Acart, and Armata and Nathanson will continue to oversee its operations. Acart, which had about 30 employees before the acquisition, expects its head count to be in the range of 35 people once G&G is fully integrated into the organization.
“This has been a tough time in the industry, and G&G has felt the effects,” Nathanson said in a statement.
“Partnering with Acart presents an exciting opportunity for us to broaden our capabilities. We’re particularly excited about having access to a best-in-class media trade desk, a fulsome motion graphics team, plus an even more robust strategy practice led by (Acart partner and chief strategy officer Theresa Forman), all of which will drive significant value to our existing clients.”
The deal marks the latest stage in the evolution of Acart, which was launched by legendary Ottawa entrepreneur Al Albania in 1976 and has become one of the capital’s top agencies.
Over the years, the company built a wide-ranging clientele that included some of Ottawa’s best-known companies and institutions, including the Ottawa Senators, Nortel Networks, the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery of Canada. The firm even had a hand in naming one of Canada’s most recognized innovations, the Canadarm.
‘Excited about where we’re going’
The agency also gained a reputation for punching above its weight. A 2012 Globe and Mail investigation found that Acart won big when the federal government brought in tough, merit-based advertising rules in the wake of the sponsorship scandal.
The Globe reported that the “tiny ad agency” won 26 per cent of federal advertising dollars over a two-and-a-half-year period, beating out several large international firms with no whiff of political favouritism.
Now, Acart is beginning to make a splash in markets beyond the National Capital Region under the guidance of McWiggan and industry veteran Forman, who acquired full ownership of the agency from Albania in August 2022.
“The (G&G) acquisition was just another step in that process of further expanding,” said the Australian-born McWiggan, who emigrated to Canada in 2011 after receiving a volleyball scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan and relocated to Ottawa five years ago. “I’m pretty excited about where we’re going and what we’re doing.”
The Melbourne native acknowledged the past few years have been tough sledding for his industry as deal cycles lengthened and clients reduced spending amid rising inflation and economic turbulence.
“It’s a constant grind to be in the marketing and advertising space,” he said. “I am seeing out in the market that there have been a lot of businesses that have been struggling.”
Acart, however, has managed to weather the storm by finding creative ways to get “stickier” with clients, McWiggan said.
“Our business has done a really good job of that,” he said, adding Acart’s revenues are on an “upward” trajectory.
“To be able to continue to grow at a time when many are not, I’m very proud of our people.”
