Doner, Part Of Stagwell (STGW), Heads Back North As Canada's Leading Creative Commerce Agency

UNION and 6 Degrees Join Forces to Tell Brand Stories with Certainty

TORONTO, Dec. 1, 2021 /CNW/ -- Stagwell today announced the launch of DonerNorth, a progressive new agency that fills the much-needed marketing services white space.  Through the fusion of UNION's creative, digital and media expertise and 6 Degrees' award-winning shopper innovation and data-driven insights, DonerNorth is premised on the belief that big unifying ideas should be designed to connect and convert consumers from the start.  

Underpinned by predictive intelligence, this newly formed agency will craft creative ideas with certainty that both inspire and nudge consumers to conversion in the most relevant micro-moments ⁠— the way people actually fall in love and buy brands in real life.

Three visionary leaders from the two combined entities will help accelerate the new path forward: Catherine Marcolin, President; Lance Martin, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of UNION; and Adrianne Gaffney Wotherspoon, Chief Strategist and former Managing Partner of 6 Degrees.

"Creative agencies tell insightful, connective stories.  Shopper agencies create programs that drive conversion.  No agency – until now – does both well," said Marcolin.  "Consumers cycle through living, shopping, and purchasing moments more seamlessly than they ever have before. An agency that marries data, strategy and insights to drive impactful commercial communications is not only a unique but necessary partner in a post-COVID and soon to be post-cookie world," said Gaffney Wotherspoon. 

Lance Martin - with experience launching and growing two alternative agencies, Taxi 2 and UNION -- added: "At the core, inspirational stories are always going to be necessary to capture the attention of consumers.  DonerNorth is going to take that one step further. We will convert consumers to buyers without losing the creative magic of the idea and are excited to do that for our clients."

DonerNorth is an integral component of Doner Partners Network (DPN) within Stagwell.  Doner -- based in Detroit with offices in and LA and Connecticut – left Canada a decade ago after three decades of creating some of the most iconic TV spots for automotive and healthcare clients, along with Canada's top retailer.  Over the past year, both UNION and 6 Degrees have shared high profile assignments with Doner between borders, including supporting the development of Super Bowl spots and winning and growing shared clients such as Johnson & Johnson.  

"I couldn't be more excited to be back in Canada.  Doner has always had a shared sensibility with this country," said David Demuth, CEO of Doner and DPN Chair.  "Now, with DonerNorth, we are graduating into something that smartly addresses where the puck is going, and not where it's been."

Krista Webster, Vice-Chair of DPN and CEO of PR & Influencer sister agencies, Veritas Communications and Meat & Produce, believes DonerNorth will be the most impactful creative commerce agency in North America because the agency has done the research to craft a deliberate, differentiated offering that has been successfully test-driven with existing key clients.

"CMOs – especially in Canada – need assurance that their marketing dollars are going towards the right things at the right time.  We aren't promising to be everything – just everything that matters," said Webster. 

About DonerNorth
DonerNorth (www.donernorth.com) is Doner Partners Network's unique creative commerce offering in Canada.  Doner (www.doner.com) has offices in Detroit, LA, Connecticut and most recently, Toronto. Doner and DonerNorth are part of Stagwell (www.stagwellglobal.com), a digital-first marketing network built to drive results for the most ambitious B2C, B2B, and DTC brands in the world.

About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing.  Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 20+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

For more information, please contact:

Brandon Dixon
347-636-5807
[email protected]                              

Bora Caglayan              
647-920-2201
[email protected]

SOURCE Stagwell Inc.