Gary W. Lay of Little Rock’s GWL Advertising has completed deals to acquire Mass Enthusiasm, the digital marketing firm that was a finalist this month for Arkansas Business of the Year, and for GWL’s See Spot Run Productions to absorb Audio Recording Corporation of Arkansas, a mainstay in central Arkansas commercial production for four decades.
Lay closed the deals on Feb. 15, partnering with Mass Enthusiasm owner Chris McMillen on a six-person ownership team to create GWL Digital, for which McMillen will serve as managing partner. ARCA Studios, founded in 1975 by Dick Marendt and Clyde Snider, will keep its old phone number under the Run Spot Run name.
“Clyde and Dick are heading into retirement,” Lay said, “and they’re leaving behind a great organization that has local and national clients. I heard they were going to retire and looked at their offering and visited with them. I thought to myself that these fellows have 200 clients in 25 or 30 states and new business in the works. This could really enhance See Spot Run.”
Lay declined to reveal financial details on either deal, but he said that both acquisitions were optimal for his businesses in an evolving advertising environment.
Debra Weaver, an ARCA employee for four years, will stay, and See Spot Run has hired veteran sound engineer David Jones. Mass Enthusiasm’s entire staff will make the transition under McMillen to GWL Digital, Lay said.
“Acquiring ARCA was just a natural fit, and it was very easy to come up with a satisfactory package that will take care of Dick and Clyde for quite a while,” Lay said. “With Mass Enthusiasm, we’re getting an excellent digital team at a time when we really need that aspect to offer our clients full service. Things have changed with the younger generation, and we saw a chance to fill a void. It’s a neat situation, because Mass Enthusiasm has great people serving a great existing clientele. It was almost like a no-brainer, but it took a little while to work out the kinks.”
McMillen called the acquisition a win-win.
“We’re maintaining our Mass Enthusiasm clients in businesses as usual, and helping to serve GWL’s clientele as the digital arm,” he said. “It’s going to be a great partnership, GWL Digital. We’re not only keeping our whole team, but in the short term, we’re looking to add staff.”
Lay said that the acquisitions were the largest deals in GWL’s 25-year history, and that he was proud to be associated with the new entities.
“Everything is still at the same locations, and nobody has to come from far away to get together for meetings,” he said. “We’ve actually gone from about 17 employees to about 35. ARCA comes in under See Spot, which picks up two employees, and Mass Enthusiasm’s entire staff stays intact as GWL Digital.”
Lay’s and McMillen’s partners of the GWL Digital ownership board will be Christy Vandergriff, Julie Barnett, Carolyn Bakalekos and Sean Hinson. Vandergriff is creative director at GWL Advertising, Bakalekos is the agency’s accountant. Hinson and Barnett are GWL account directors.
Lay sought to reassure advertising agencies that have worked with ARCA and Mass Enthusiasm that GWL is not out to take their clients.
“We started See Spot as a production company 10 or 12 years ago to support our clientele and to keep costs down, but we do a lot of production for other agencies in the city,” Lay told Arkansas Business. “It’s the same way with ARCA. We want the other agencies to know that we’re here to fulfill their production needs and not to take away their clients. If people have been using Mass Enthusiasm, they don’t have to worry about us targeting their clients. Life’s too short to worry about taking other people’s business. I’ve lasted a long time by applying that ethic.”
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