Butler/Till acquires digital marketing agency Digital Hyve - Campaign US

Women and employee-owned marketing agency Butler/Till has acquired upstate New York-based digital marketing agency Digital Hyve, the companies said Thursday. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Butler/Till bought Digital Hyve to expand its offering to niche small and mid-size businesses, while allowing Digital Hyve to work with larger clients, said Amanda DeVito, VP of marketing and growth at Butler/Till. 

Combining the companies' capabilities will allow them to deliver a more holistic offering in media, creative, analytics and digital marketing and advertising as marketers need support in executing increasingly complex digital campaigns.

"With all the digital transformation, privacy discussions, cookie-less regulations, first party- data, Digital Hyve's [capabilities] were extremely attractive," DeVito said. "Digital and media are in our DNA."

The acquisition also fits with B/T's commitment to 100% employee ownership. The agency sold back its stock to employees and completed its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transition in 2014. Digital Hyve was also seeking to become employee-owned and struck up a conversation with Butler/Till about how to do so, which served as the catalyst to the acquisition, said Jeff Knauss, CEO and co-founder at Digital Hyve.

For now, Butler/Till does not expect to sunset either brand, and both companies will continue to work in separate office buildings across the street from each other in Rochester, New York. Butler/Till recently invested in a two-story headquarters with a library, a coffee bar, sit-to-stand desks and quiet spaces. The company expects to transition employees to the new space in the fall under a hybrid work model. 

Butler/Till will work with Digital Hyve's existing clients, though the two agencies have not yet pitched joint accounts. B/T's clients include Bauch Health, Salix Pharmaceuticals and Northwest Bank, while Digital Hyve has worked with Syracuse University, Vision Auto Group and Ocean Casino Resort. 

The joint company will have a combined headcount of approximately 250 people. In 2020, Butler/Till generated roughly $28.5 million in gross income. It has virtually onboarded 60 staff members since the onset of the pandemic. 

According to Knauss, the company generated more than $12 million in billings in 2020. 

Butler/Till is a certified B Corporation, a for-profit company required to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency in all decision-making processes. Digital Hyve is currently in the process of becoming B Corp. certified.