Boston Advertising Agency Connelly Partners Expands to Europe

Boston (April 6, 2018) – Steve Connelly, President of Connelly Partners, the largest full-service independent advertising agency in New England, announced today that it has acquired Strategem, a digitally focused advertising agency based in Dublin. Connelly Partners Dublin will serve as a launch pad on the other side of the Atlantic to expand the agency’s Shopper Marketing and technology and development resources. In addition, the move will augment the agency’s category expertise in travel/tourism, education, pharma and consumer packaged goods.

The acquisition will give Connelly Partners clients access to a deeper, more cost-effective source of technology resources and a gateway to scale to a new audience of European brands. Eighty percent of global technology companies are based in Ireland including Facebook, Google and HP according to IDA Ireland. Ireland is home to one of the youngest workforces in the world and is poised to become the only native English speaking country in the European Union as a result of Brexit. “Dublin is the digital capital of Europe with a staggering amount of technology talent and technology companies and we are going there to be a part of it,” said Steve Connelly, President of Connelly Partners. “As an independent agency, we can take risks to better serve our clients’ future needs that other agencies simply can’t.”

Connelly Partners Dublin’s Managing Director, Keith Lee, who founded Strategem in 1998, will head Connelly Partners’ European headquarters in Dublin. Courtney Doyle, Partner, Director of Organizational Development at Connelly Partners in Boston will serve as the point of connection and integration between the two offices.

Connelly Partners Dublin’s client expertise is focused on many complementary categories as its Boston counterpart (transportation, tourism, beer, healthcare fashion and education), with clients including Bus Éireann, Expressway, BWG Foods, EUROSPAR, Shannon Group, Diageo, University of Limerick, Tipperary County Council, Our Lady’s Hospice, among others.

“Ireland has one of the most adaptable workforces in the world. Powered by Connelly Partners, together we will combine creativity, technology and cultural insight to reach consumers on a journey that is constantly changing,” said Keith Lee. “We are already taking advantages of the opportunities that independent agencies can bring to the global economy.”

Connelly Partners acquired digital design and customer experience agency, Almighty last year to expand its UX expertise and adding depth to its data strategy and programmatic media buying credentials. Connelly Partners offers clients machine learning insights through a partnership with Motive Metrics, a Silicon Valley company that extracts consumer motivations and traits from social media data. The agency is also invested in a successful pop culture content website focused on Shopper Marketing, an area of the advertising business expected to outperform total brand marketing spending by 2020, according to the Association of National Advertisers.

Employees from Connelly Partners Boston have already started to relocate to Connelly Partners Dublin to augment Connelly Partners Dublin’s account and technology teams. While working out the terms of the deal (which are not disclosed), the two offices have collaborated on new business pitches and client projects. Additional talent from Connelly Partners Boston will relocate to Dublin over the next year.

About Connelly Partners
Connelly Partners is a full-service advertising agency that uses empathy to develop relationships and unique connections with consumers. Clients include, American Express Travel, A&E Networks, American Tourister, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, Babson College, British Virgin Islands Tourism Board, CIE Tours, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Gorton’s Seafood, Kayem Foods, Massachusetts State Lottery, Samsonite, among others. The agency’s loft space in the South End of Boston is filled with over 150 employees accomplished in strategic planning, creative and content generation, media planning and buying, digital strategy/execution, public relations, social media, search, branded entertainment, integrated production and analytics. Connelly Partners has been recognized for its workplace culture by Advertising Age, Boston Business Journal, Boston Globe and BostInno, among others. Visit connellypartners.com for more information.