Amplify has acquired Melbourne-based creative agency Snack Drawer, B&T can reveal, as it pushes toward its goal of becoming the world’s leading creator economy business.
The news naturally marks a significant moment for Snack Drawer. But as Amplify founders Alex Reid and Tom Maynard told B&T, it represents an inflection point for the business which grew 30 per cent year-on-year as the creator economy starts to take off.
Goldman Sachs, for instance, projected the creator economy could nearly double to US$480 billion (AU$684.09 billion) by 2027. Deloitte reckons there are perhaps 50 million creators are currently generating content for 5 billion social media users worldwide. With a prize of that size on offer, the opportunity for scale is surely enticing.
“The MO of Amplify is to build the world’s leading creator-led business,” said Maynard.
“We started off in Australia, but with the acquisition of Snack Drawer, it really is planting a flag in the ground that we are taking this seriously as an independent.”
“You can hire individuals, but you can’t hire a five-year vetted creative team,” Reid added.
Amplify was founded by Reid and Maynard in 2018 and it has grown from a creator-focused events business into a global operation of almost 200 people across APAC, North America, the Middle East and Africa.
The agency works across influencer marketing, social and content, talent management, sport, production and creator-owned IP. Its clients include vast blue-chip firms such as P&G, TikTok, Warner Bros., Canva and Tinder.
As part of the move, Snack Drawer’s co-founder and chief executive Jamie Searle will become general manager of Amplify Melbourne. His fellow co-founder and chief creative Hannah McElhinney has stepped into the newly created role as global executive creative director. The broader Snack Drawer team will also join Amplify.
“Jamie and Hannah have created one of the most respected independent creative agencies in Australia by understanding something a lot of people still miss. Attention today is earned through creators, communities and culture,” said Reid.
Founded in 2020, Snack Drawer built its reputation on creating work at the intersection of creators, culture and entertainment. Its clients includes Meta, Netflix, WesFarmers Health and the Dept of Transport and Planning Victoria.
The values alignment between the businesses was self-evident according to Tearle and McElhinney.
“Amplify is a rare independent creator economy business, and the global scale it brings was really exciting to Hannah and I. It means that our creative work, our capabilities, and opportunities for our team and for our clients can play on a much bigger field right from day one,” Searle told B&T.
“In an era where a lot of indies are being gobbled up by holding companies, and the impact on creativity is something we all contend with. Joining forces with an independent that shares your value system, shares a vision in terms of the creator economy and shares an excitement around creativity, that’s the most important and valuable thing you can find in a partner,” McElhinney added.
Snack Drawer’s clients will remain with the teams they know during a transition period, with access to Amplify’s full suite of capabilities. The Snack Drawer brand will gradually integrate into the Amplify ecosystem over time, with no fixed timeline set for full absorption.
“It’s going to be more about bringing new opportunity into the fold, new specialties, new workflows and new tech. All of those types of things that come with the benefit of working with a business that has scale,” Searle added.
The businesses do share a number of similar clients: Meta and TikTok, Netflix and Warner Bros. Amplify told B&T that category overlap “is normal in a business of a scale” and that any conflicts would be handled as any other “serious” agency would, through confidentiality agreements and open client conversations.
The acquisition is effective immediately.
