Manila, Philippines – Global marketing and communications company Stagwell has added Octopus&Whale, a Philippines-based game and brand experience design agency, to its growing Global Affiliate Network to bolster full-service and specialty digital solutions for clients across Asia-Pacific.

The partnership comes as Stagwell accelerates its commitment to growth across Asia, anchored by its regional offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and over 25 affiliate partners in Asia to date.

This partnership also coincides with Octopus&Whale’s fourth year, having expanded its client base to include some of the Philippines’ most iconic names in business, such as SM, Meralco, NutriAsia, Unilab, and Philippine Airlines.

As the country’s only brand experience agency with a focus on gaming, they aim to complement the full-service of creative, media and digital services offered by Stagwell.

Talking about the partnership, Joey David Tiempo, founder and CEO of Octopus&Whale, said, “Through our partnership with Stagwell, we see endless opportunities to amplify our creative vision and reach untapped markets that could benefit from our specialty digital capabilities. We are excited to collaborate with other players in this tech-first network and be the guide for businesses who want to explore the gaming space.”

Meanwhile, Randy Duax, managing director, Asia-Pacific for Stagwell, commented, “Tiempo and the entire Octopus&Whale team strive to exceed client needs while pushing boundaries across immersive experiences. We’re pleased to partner with them and bring their expertise in the fast-growing gaming and experience space to larger clients in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.”

This addition of Octopus&Whale serves to reinforce Stagwell’s offering of agile global solutions for clients, with Stagwell further aiming to partner with more regional experts to scale marketing capabilities to new regions.

Sydney, Australia – This is Flow, the Australia-based independent media agency is the newest partner of global media network MDC Partners in its global affiliate program. 

MDC Partners which owns agencies such as 72andSunny, Anomaly, and Media Kitchen, has launched in February a key strategic move for its global expansion – the global affiliate program. Through the program, MDC Partners aims to charge its global name by partnering with local agencies in key international hubs in order to provide brands the creative and media, and technology capabilities they need to keep up with the global economy, one that has become much more connected through today’s digital channels. 

This is Flow will specifically be MDC’s affiliate media planning and buying agency across Australia and New Zealand and will help manage global clients and will be participating in global pitches. This is Flow, however, will still remain fully independent.

For the current year, This is Flow has acquired a number of accounts to work as the media agency of record. Both in April, the agency announced being appointed by Global beer brand Coors in Australia and junk removal company 1800-GOT-JUNK to handle their media planning and buying, where the latter was in fact a collaboration with MDC Partners, confirmed by This is Flow. 

Through the new partnership, MDC Partners will be able to unlock the This is Flow’s deep media expertise and capabilities in Australia and surrounding areas while the indie agency will be able to leverage access to MDC Partners’ media planning technologies and tools.

“Providing creative, connected, and effective capabilities that leverage both global scale and local understanding is a fundamental part of our expansion strategy. In collaboration with the team at Flow, we’re excited to build upon our existing footprint in Australia,” said Mark Penn, chairman, and CEO of MDC Partners

Founder and CEO of This is Flow Jimmy Hyett, added, “Flow has seen incredible growth over recent years, attributed to the smarts of our people who deliver data-led strategy that’s significantly reshaping business across Australia and New Zealand. Adding a global footprint through MDC Partners means our clients can now harness the combined value of local and global passion, knowledge, and experience.”

This is Flow joins MDC Partners’ earlier affiliates such as Brand New Galaxy which has a portfolio of next-gen capabilities in locations across Eastern Europe and MENA and also Beyond Media Global with a presence across East Asia and North America, among others.