JOY has announced the completion of the acquisition of communications agency, Drum Agency, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition, which began in 2021, takes the integrated agency to over 50 people across brand, media and creative services with a balance of blue-chip and emerging clients as it strengthens its position as one of Sydney’s few independent, mid-sized agencies.
Drum Agency was founded by Martin Patton in 2016 and grew to a team of 14 and specialised in agile and provocative guerilla marketing, with expertise across brand, creative, social, media, customer experience and behavioural economics.
It developed campaigns for clients across the health, travel, food and automotive categories, helping brands like RAM Trucks, Musashi, Nutra-Life and American Airlines unlock unprecedented growth opportunities.
JOY principals, Simon Rush and Andrew Wynne, said that they had known, worked with and admired Drum for years, which made the decision to come together very easy.
Rush said: “Drum was a fast growing, successful agency with philosophies and approaches that are aligned with ours. The importance of cultural fit is critical for a business like ours and our teams have come together as one beautifully and are already producing fantastic work and results for our clients.
“This acquisition deepens our resource pool and enhances our capabilities in key areas such as strategy, content creative and production, media and creative – something that we collectively value in the face of the industry’s current talent challenges.”
Wynne added: “We promised ourselves that we would come out of COVID stronger than we went in, and the Drum acquisition is a key pillar in bringing this to life.
“The acquisition takes us to the next level in scale. We can now dream bigger with campaigns, tackle larger projects and accordingly, bring in sizable results and impact for our clients.”
The merging of the agencies represented a homecoming moment for Patton who was previously executive director at JOY before he left to launch his own agency with Drum Agency.
The whole JOY team now operates out of enviable Pyrmont offices, with flexible working from home options.
Patton, principal of JOY, said: “We knew it was time to be part of something bigger and the synergies between Drum and JOY were apparent from the start. We 100% buy into the JOY model of being able to integrate brand, creative and media to maximize value.
He added: “We felt this union would advantage our clients and give us the best platform to attract the innovative and creative business we are after. When everything works together, it’s a JOY!”