Helping clients rebrand is all part of the job for advertising agencies.
But Supermoon saw the tables turned last year after the departure of its longtime chief executive. The company, formerly known as Tiny Rebellion, took the opportunity to reinvent itself, bringing in a new slate of executives to help achieve that goal.
That effort culminated last month with the hiring of Kyle Acquistapace, a former partner at Deutsch LA, as president, and the signing of new clients Honest Co., Campbell Soup Co.’s Fresh division, and car finance firm AutoGravity.
Amir Haque, Supermoon’s founder and chief executive, said while the Santa Monica agency has been around for more than 10 years, it now feels like a new shop.
“Even though it’s the same entity, it’s like a 14-year-old startup,” he said.
Acquistapace is not the first Deutsch veteran to join the firm. Over the past two years, the company has hired David DeRoma as executive creative director, Jill Burgeson as director of strategy, and Nicole Rowett as group account director. Supermoon arrived at its new name because the team came up with its new business plan on the weekend of the celestial event last year.
The company’s goal is to land contracts with what Haque refers to as “second-stage” companies, i.e., businesses aiming for rapid growth rather than large established players.
“What’s helpful is they see the value (and) rapid growth you’re able to give them,” said Haque, who assumed the role of chief executive last month alongside Acquistapace’s appointment. He previously served as president. “(With) later-stage companies, agency services can be viewed more like a commodity.”
Co-founded in 2002 by Haque and Lucas Donat, its former chief executive, Tiny Rebellion’s original mission focused on helping purpose-driven companies implement campaigns that promoted positive ideas. For example, it launched a campaign called #FoodPornIndex for Bolthouse Farms that tracked social media mentions of healthy food versus junk food.
Supermoon rising
Despite its narrow focus, the small agency saw growth and garnered acclaim, winning Advertising Age’s Small Agency of the Year honor last year.
Susan Franceschini, executive director of ad industry trade group ThinkLA, said rebranding to differentiate from the competition is not uncommon in this market.
“How do you play in a very large field with great talent and agencies that have scale?” she said. “Maybe you’re smaller and so going for that type of (young) client might be more accessible, more realistic, and in line with what you want to deliver.”
She added that not every agency’s goal is to become the next TBWAChiatDay, with hundreds of employees and multiple offices across the world. And sometimes clients prefer to work with smaller shops.
“Clients are also competitive,” Franceschini said. “Clients are looking for a needle in a haystack. If you’re discovering new talent and new agencies, you’re also a hero in your marketing department.”
While Haque said the company’s new business model has worked out so far, it came about rather suddenly after Donat’s decision to part with the firm in October of last year. Donat, who was the catalyst behind the firm’s original mission, now serves as chief brand officer at TrueCar Inc., a former Tiny Rebellion client.
Haque bought out Donat, and as part of the transaction they agreed to rebrand the agency. Donat did not respond to a request for comment.
“He wanted to do other things, so I was at a bit of a crossroads,” said Haque, a trained electrical engineer and former business management consultant. “I wanted to pull us in a way that was even more business-minded but also allowed us to up our creative game.”
Though he declined to state the firm’s revenue, Haque said Supermoon has seen 20 percent growth each quarter since rebranding in the fourth quarter of last year. The agency has a staff of 25.
The hiring of Acquistapace came somewhat out of the blue. After spending 16 years at Deutsch LA as a partner and director of media and data strategy, he resigned from the megafirm last year in order to spend more time with his family.
“You realize maybe you need to see your kids again and enjoy all the things you worked hard for,” he recalled.
A year later, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. But he knew that if he wound up back in advertising, it would be at a smaller agency, he said.
He reconnected with Supermoon’s Burgeson, with whom he worked at Deutsch, and Haque offered him a position at the firm soon after.
“It’s like the mob,” Acquistapace said, jokingly. “I tried to get out but Amir pulled me back in.”
Running start
He ended up joining a firm with momentum. Before he arrived, Supermoon signed a deal with Honest to create TV spots, including a recent series of diaper commercials, as well as digital ads. Supermoon also plans to launch the first piece of advertising for automotive finance startup AutoGravity by the end of the year.
Haque acknowledged that focusing on younger clients as opposed to snagging large brands gives Supermoon more accounts to manage.
“It’s a paradox of this business,” he said. “You want to have a lot of success and diversification. Then you become a fast-growing, successful agency and these big accounts invite you to come work for them and they end up chewing up your diversification model.”
But Acquistapace added that smaller agencies can react quicker to the needs of their clients.
“You realize the trappings of a big agency aren’t what matters,” he said. “There might be smaller lunch rooms or no lunch room but all the good parts are still there. We make a decision and we go do it that afternoon. It’s intoxicating.”
