The old-time Internet agency
Agency.com has come a long way since Chan Suh and Kyle Shannon co-founded the company with $80 in 1995, the Jurassic Age of the Internet. Today, Agency.com is the largest company in the world offering Web creation, advertising, and consulting services. Through its association with its corporate parent, the giant advertising conglomerate Omnicom, Agency.com has won some distinctly blue-chip clients. Its IPO in December 1999 tripled the value of the company.
On the edge
Suh and Shannon started their business at the beginning of a surge of interest in web advertising solutions. Companies weren't exactly sure what they needed a web site for, they just knew their competitors were getting one and they wanted one too. Suh began designing web sites not just to advertise but to sell. With new competitors appearing within the year, the company got a boost from Omnicom, whose initial investment of $11.7 million that year expanded to $1.1 billion after Agency.com's IPO. Unfortunately, Omnicom's beneficence also extended to Agency.com competitors Razorfish and Think New Ideas (then called Onramp.)
Solving interactive troubles
Today, Agency.com counts among its clients General Motors, HP, MetLife, Budweiser, Bank of America, 3M, American Express, and British Airways. Based in New York City, it is the largest interactive advertising and consulting firm. This status was confirmed by a merger in August 1998 with Eagle River Interactive, also a player in the interactive market. Agency.com, thanks to Suh, has been known as strategically strong, while Eagle River Interactive was known as a technical master. In 1999 the company expanded its presence in the Midwest by acquiring Chicago-based rival Digital Vision. It continued its rapid growth with the opening of an Atlanta office early in 2000. Agency.com has also aggressively pursued overseas acquisitions, most recently with the purchase of Pictoris Interactive, a French interactive agency. Through various partnerships, the company has also recently increased its presence in the global infrastructure and wireless telecommunications industries. Agency.com is also looking at using superstitial advertising on client web sites, replacing the more traditional banner ads.
