After 50 years, a Portland marketing firm has been sold to one of the city's digital agencies.
Mad Fish Digital said Tuesday it's acquiring Grady Britton as the team looks to "provide end-to-end marketing and communications solutions for accelerating business growth and audience connection for mission-minded clients."
Mad Fish, a certified B Corporation (as is Grady Britton), works with business clients seeking digital advertising technologies, SEO and analytics. Its clients include companies in the apparel, health care, construction and food and beverage arenas.
In seeking to expand, owners Ben and Corrie Herman sought a partner "that would expand on Mad Fish Digital’s values-based, ethical marketing systems and digital services."
Mad Fish is one of the PBJ's fastest-growing private companies for 2024 and the area's 31st largest technology services firm.
Grady Britton enjoyed a reputation for its branding expertise. In 2020, the PBJ talked to co-owner Paige Campbell about ways Portland could overcome perception issues after nightly riots decimated parts of downtown.
While acknowledging that no one wants the violence and the degree of destruction that occurred that year, Campbell pointed out that Portlanders enjoy having a voice.
“Where I would dig into it is that any brand has to be authentic and true to the organization,” she said at the time. “And in the case of Portland, it's pretty rich in what, as far as a brand, it has to work with and the aspects of it that are authentic and true to the culture and the environment here.”
The firm also specializes in media planning and buying, as well as public relations.
Both agencies are certified B Corporations, sharing a commitment to the triple bottom line that values people, planet, and profit. Grady Britton was the first Portland creative agency to be certified in 2015, with Mad Fish following in 2018.
The firms will operate as "strategic partners" for the time being, with Campbell continuing to serve as Grady Britton's president. Andy Askren, Grady Britton's co-owner, remains as creative director.
The combined group will employ 46 workers in 10 states and remain headquartered in Portland. In a release, the team's leaders acknowledged they'll "seek out operational efficiencies and other opportunities to integrate business processes behind the scenes, while continuing to deliver results for clients and supporting employee career development."
