Doner and Colle McVoy Join Forces to Scale Up and Reach ‘Main Street America’

Doner and Colle McVoy are betting that a merger isn’t the only way to scale.

The two Stagwell-owned agencies are joining forces as DonerColle Partners, a strategic alliance that combines their leadership teams, capabilities, and back offices while allowing them to maintain individual brands, clients, and P&Ls.

Jessica Henrichs, formerly CEO of Colle McVoy, will lead DonerColle Partners as CEO, while David DeMuth, Doner’s longtime CEO, will serve as executive chairman. There are no layoffs as a result of the shift, Henrichs confirmed.

The power of the combination comes into play in media scale and AI investment. DonerColle Partners will go to market with a joint media offering, allowing the agencies to compete for larger media budgets than they could individually.

As for AI and technology, both agencies will share a roadmap while tapping into each others’ existing products and tools, like Colle McVoy’s strategy-led AI work and Doner’s AI-powered production and studio infrastructure.

The partnership is in line with Stagwell’s strategy to combine its agencies through networks and alliances versus mergers, a bid to avoid disruption while meeting client demands to be more integrated. It comes in contrast to giants like Omnicom, which late last year closed its acquisition of IPG to form the industry’s largest holding company, or WPP, which has been consolidating its agency portfolio for years.

DonerColle Partners’ joint media offering in particular reflects the need for scale in a consolidating market, even for midsized offerings. Last year, rivals Havas and Horizon Media teamed up to form a $20 billion media joint venture to compete in big global media pitches.

“This isn’t a merger,” Henrichs said. “We’re coming together intentionally, at the leadership level and in the bets we’re making on creativity, media, and technology.”

Midwest challenger, changing market

DonerColle Partners is positioning itself as a Midwest alternative to big, coastal agency networks, building on both agencies’ existing heritages; Doner is based in Detroit and Colle McVoy in Minneapolis.

“There’s a real opportunity to serve brands that live in people’s everyday lives—Jeep, UPS, Dairy Queen, Coca-Cola—by understanding Main Street America in a modern way,” DeMuth said. Heinrichs added that she sees potential to help marketers struggling to connect with consumers in a polarized country.

Another opportunity is to branch into new revenue streams. With a pooled investment budget, DonerColle Partners plans to develop tech products that can eventually be sold to clients.