Creative agency Connelly Partners has acquired Dublin peer ZOO Digital, its second acquisition in the past year after its purchase of Canadian global content agency VRX Studios.
The deal will see Connelly Partners increase its headcount in Ireland to 45 people, with plans to add a further 20% to its workforce here in the year ahead.
ZOO Digital will maintain its name while sharing office space with Connelly Partners in Dublin and continuing to work as a specialised digital agency and sister company to its new owner.
ZOO will also provide expanded services and expertise as part of Connelly Partners, which itself will launch more enhanced media and analytics offerings to its clients in the coming months to support ZOO's integration.
Connelly first established a presence in Ireland in 2018, and recently announced a new senior leadership team in Dublin comprising client service and business director Vaunnie McDermott, strategy director Mary McMahon and art and creative director Ronan Doyle.
In Association with
Connelly Partners, which also has offices in Boston and Vancouver, said the deal allows the agency to "provide a global perspective while delivering the local expertise needed based on clients' needs, to maximise efficiencies and knowledge sharing via integrated teams that work across offices.
"With these two agencies joining forces, ZOO’s strength in digital strategy and creative execution and UX/UI expertise will add even further depth to Connelly Partners' full service offering for clients," the company said in a statement.
Steve Connelly, president of Connelly Partners said: “It is not in our DNA to ever be satisfied with who we are and what we do.
"We are in constant pursuit of better, always looking for ways to best serve our clients. In order to do that, we’ve got to have the best people and skill sets to drive that commercial success for clients, in such an competitive environment.
“With ZOO we found kindred spirits in our respect for how humans make decisions and consume digital content. More importantly we found impressive skills, experience, and the kind of ego-free talent that clients crave, and we are always searching for.”
“This deal is really all about growth - to be able to offer our clients even more and to enable our team to work more globally,” said Colin Hetherington, managing director of ZOO Digital.
“It’s been really interesting getting to know Steve and the Connelly Partner team over the last number of months. A key moment in our discussions came when Steve mentioned how it’s all about integrity, followed by great advertising. That’s something at ZOO we really believe in. It’s going to be fun to work with kindred spirits.”
Established in 2008, Zoo Digital Ltd was owned by Colin Hetherington (41%), Martin Byrne (30%) and Chris Preston (30%). Byrne and Preston departed as company directors in January 2022.
Trade debtors in June 2021 amounted to €545,000 and work in progress was valued at €236,000. Net current assets at period-end had a balance sheet value of €824,000.
Clients include Burger King, Red Bull and Hansard Global and key Irish brands including Electric Ireland, Glanbia’s MyMilkMan.ie, National Lottery and The Abbey Theatre.
Connelly Partners has launched campaigns for 123.ie Insurance, Shannon Airport, Audi Ireland, Gaelic Players Association, Defiant Water, and Barnardos.
Recently, the company won the University of Limerick pitch and retained the Bus Éireann/Expressway account.
Photo (l-r): Chris Preston, Martin Byrne, Colin Hetherington, Vaunnie McDermott, Ronan Doyle.
