Integrated agency SolutionSet and online performance marketing firm MediaWhiz have combined to form the SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership.
SolutionSet president and CEO Zain Raj will lead the merged agency as its chief executive, while MediaWhiz CFO and COO Tom Lanzetta will serve as COO.
The combined 700-employee agency will manage clients’ marketing across the following five areas: relationship marketing, digital services, local marketing, data management and media services.
“If you look at marketing environment, there’s not a CMO that isn’t being held accountable for results,” said Raj.
The deal also enables the combined agency to offer clients the following marketing technology platforms: retail marketing, creative services, affiliate marketing, search and display.
The agency will have dual headquarters in New York and Mill Valley, Calif., and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Dallas, Palo Alto, Calif., and Albany, NY, said Raj.
No layoffs will occur as a result of the merger. “None whatsoever,” Raj said. “These are complementary organizations. We don’t see redundancies. We see potential for growth.”
Jonathan Shapiro, former CEO of MediaWhiz, left the company approximately six weeks ago to join PetCareRX as CEO, according to Raj, who said Shapiro’s departure had “nothing to do with the partnership.”
The combined agency will also launch a marketing campaign this week to promote itself. It will send emails August 11 to both clients and prospects, and distribute direct mail in a few weeks. It will also place display ads in a matter of weeks, said Raj.
Agency clients include Adidas, AT&T and American Express.
The combined agency is financed by Lake Capital, a private equity firm based in Chicago.
