Velocity Sports & Entertainment and Vivid Marketing have joined together to form a new lifestyle marketing agency, Team Epic.
Team Epic will also incorporate the research expertise of SRi (Sponsorship Research International) and the digital capabilities of Isobar. All four entities are part of Aegis Media.
“Brands are looking for ways to get closer and closer to the consumer, ways to develop the most personal relationships with them,” said Mike Reisman, a principal at Velocity and one of the new principals on Team Epic’s executive committee. “We are tailor made to help brands create those relationships.”
Team Epic’s business model revolves around the expertise brought by each of the four entities:
- Strategic lifestyle marketing and sponsorship management from Velocity Sports & Entertainment
- Experiential marketing with vast field resources from Vivid Marketing
- Digital marketing capabilities from Isobar
- Market research and measurement analytics from SRi
“The role of our industry moving forward is to help get to that relationship that consumers are expecting,” Reisman said. “They expect brands to talk to them, have a dialog, give them information and enrich their lives.”
Team Epic’s clients include AT&T, FedEx, IBM, Sports Illustrated, Charles Schwab and Mars Chocolate NA.
The new agency will operate under one P&L and will be managed by an executive committee of Velocity Principals, Dave Grant, Mike Reisman, Bob Wilhelmy and Alex Nieroth and Vivid Principals, Erik Peterson and Andy Cook. Cook is also Team Epic’s chief creative officer.
Team Epic has about 200 employees in offices in Norwalk, CT, Atlanta, Charlotte, NC, Boston, San Francisco and London.
No layoffs are expected.
“This is not an efficiency play,” Reisman said. “It’s about growth and marketing dynamics.”
Velocity Sports and Entertainment ranked No. 38 on the 2010 Promo 100 with 2009 U.S. net revenue of $26.1 million. Isobar ranked No. 37 with revenue of $30 million. To view the full coverage of the 2010 Promo 100, including a profile of Isobar, click here.
Network
