MARCO de Comunicación, the leading communications and PR agency in Europe and Latin America with its head office in Spain, has been highlighted in the Holmes Report’s Global Top 250 PR Agency Ranking having achieved record growth in 2018 in excess of 20% earning a revenue of nearly 9 million euros. This follows consecutive years of double-digit growth as well as eight years as the most awarded and best valued and means MARCO registered the biggest growth of any other Spanish PR agency in the Holmes ranking. Last year’s excellent performance has catalysed the agency’s rebranding as simply MARCO and has helped establish it as an expert in Country Brands and a leader in the fight against climate change.
MARCO’s ability to foster sustained growth has been built on its reputation – for the eighth year running – as the most awarded and best valued agency. By registering 20.8% in 2018 however, MARCO is also the fastest growing Spanish agency listed in the Holmes Report ranking and equates to revenues of nearly 9 million euros.
Así ha logrado @marco_agency crecer a una media del 20% durante los últimos cinco años https://t.co/UyHXbrk34H
— Dircomfidencial (@dircomfidencial) 31 de mayo de 2019
This growth also enabled the acquisition of leading business magazine, Ejecutivos, underscoring the agency’s strategic move to bridge the traditional gap between media outlets and comms agencies. Having undergone a digital makeover to become a global online business media platform in Spanish, Ejecutivos now also gives MARCO a direct line to the hundreds of millions of Spanish speakers in Latin America.
New offices in Mexico City, Bogota and Lima were opened in 2018 to support this expansion into LATAM and pay testament to the agency’s international ambitions as it now counts on ten offices spread over four continents. MARCO’s growing status on the global scene is also backed up by hard figures as 50% of revenue now comes from outside its core Iberian market and of its more than 130 consultants worldwide, 18 come from different nationalities.
As MARCO’s presence increases internationally, so does its responsibility and its commitment to fighting climate change. The agency has therefore consolidated its reputation as a climate leader demonstrated by its focus on collaborating with sustainably-minded clients such as ShareNow (Car2Go), the electric rental company, Kaiserwetter, the renewable energy investment service provider, or the World Water Council for who MARCO designed and coordinated the award winning World Water Day campaign last year that sought to position water scarcity and security at the top of the climate change agenda for the millions of people’s lives it affects daily. The European Environment Agency, Bird, COP22, Interface and ANFEVI (Friends of Glass) complete this growing portfolio whilst MARCO’s credentials in the fight against climate change were consolidated by the agency’s recent collaborations with The Climate Reality Project, a global initiative created by Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate and as Lagae earned the status of Climate Leader.
MARCO is also in the vanguard as a global expert in Country Brands. This expertise has been underlined by its recent release of the book, Country Brand, a Branded Country, which fills a void in the field and reinforces MARCO as an opinion leader on the topic. The book’s methodology examines how a positive Country Brand can foster growth by focusing on what is termed ‘doing business’, which constitutes three main axes: living and working, investment, and exporting. MARCO has already put this theory into practice working with governments as diverse as Mexico, Madeira and Morocco, to develop Country Brands and help cement their positions as standout tourist destinations.
The agency’s new identity as MARCO – renowned for its daring nature, closeness, flexibility, creativity, results orientated approach, innovative spirit and sense of fun – is complemented by an innovative new web and 100% sustainable new offices for its HQ in Madrid.
An important factor in MARCO’s impressive results has been the fortification of its EU Affairs division with key client wins including the Communication Directorate of the European Union (DG COMM), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Environment Agency (EEA), helping the agency to break the hegemony in Brussels of other more typically EU institution-orientated communication agencies. MARCO’s transversal teams of experts in video, design, creativity and digital are now leaving their mark on 360º campaigns all across Europe.
In total, 2018 saw the agency welcome over 20 new clients including Danone, Spotify Lidl, the World Advocado Organization, BIRD, Beabloo, OpenTable, Uberall, JUUL, Mattel, Grundig, Ikea Centers, XPO Logistics, Mountpark, Rumbo.es and B the travel brand.
Didier Lagae, CEO and founder of MARCO, summed up the company’s 2018 results, “This standout year with growth of over 20% reflects years of impressive yet sustainable expansion and is matched only by our ambitions to continue in 2019 and beyond. Success of this kind, only made possible by the results orientated approach and creativity of our teams, is the perfect platform for the new MARCO, as we launch our rebranding and announce are arrival as global experts in country brands and climate leaders.”
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