Deal For PR Firm Communicates Need For Range of Skills

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West L.A. public relations company S+L Communications has been given a huge leg up in the highly competitive world of marketing and PR.

The boutique firm, which focuses on fashion brands, is set to get a boost to its client list and service offerings after its acquisition by Santy, a larger marketing communications firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The deal, for which both companies declined to state terms, will see S+L rebranding to S+L PR, a Santy Co.

Karen Schneider, founder and partner at S+L, said while it has been in business for more than 30 years, the timing of the acquisition felt right.

“The whole marketing world is changing so rapidly,” Schneider said. “It’s a very exciting opportunity for us as individuals to grow and learn. And instead of retiring we decided to go in the completely opposite direction.”

More and more agencies are beefing up their digital arm as clients expect public relation firms to handle everything from website rebranding to social media accounts. It was that demand for a wider range of services that prompted the deal.

“I think it makes us far more competitive now that we can offer that full complement of services,” said Dan Santy, chief executive of Santy. “The demand clients have today is true integration. Clients can enter the agency through a lot of doors and now there’s a new door – public relations – to round out our full service capabilities.”

Santy, whose clients include Delta Air Lines and Real Mex Restaurants, specializes in brand building across digital and social media platforms. The acquisition will help S+L improve its digital strategies and open it up to serving clients in the consumer products category.

Staci Levine, partner at S+L, said the firm has built a foundation on serving fashion and action sport brands, including Vans, Zappos, and big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton’s clothing line Laird Apparel.

“There’s no plan for us to change who we are,” Levine said. “What really will change is that we will be able to offer our clients stronger and better services within the digital space.”

The firm and its staff will continue to operate out of its office in West Los Angeles.

The joint firms now have a staff size of 45, including employees at additional offices in Brea and Scottsdale.

Levine said the decision to be acquired really came down to merging the specialties both firms offered its clients.

“Dan had what we wanted and we had what he wanted,” she said.

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