OneMethod Digital + Design gained recognition in the advertising world for its use of Twitter to market La Carnita, a pop-up food truck selling tacos and pieces of art together.Jeff Chiu
They made serious noise in Toronto with La Carnita, a pop-up food truck selling tacos and pieces of art together – and using nothing but Twitter, blogs and word-of-mouth to market it. Now, Toronto digital and social marketing agency OneMethod Digital + Design has been acquired by ad agency Bensimon Byrne as it looks to expand its digital work.
OneMethod's 25-person shop attracts the majority of its work from U.S. and U.K.-based clients, including Nokia, Sony, and Quiznos. OneMethod builds online and social media marketing campaigns and mobile applications, but as part of the acquisition it will expand the "creative incubator" part of the business. This part of the agency seeks to use digital solutions as well as unusual and sometimes experimental ways of getting attention for a brand or campaign. The La Carnita truck is a good example of this, as the pop-up food marketing experiment garnered a large amount of media attention last year.
For Bensimon Byrne – one of the relatively rare independent Canadian ad agencies not owned by a multinational – the acquisition is an opportunity to expand its digital marketing offerings for clients.
"Bensimon Byrne clients will now be able to experiment with new technology applications, with increased strategic continuity across all channels," agency president Jack Bensimon said in a statement.
OneMethod founder and chief creative officer Amin Todai will now become a partner in Bensimon Byrne. He will continue to operate OneMethod separately as its managing director, and the two agencies will collaborate on projects for clients when needed.