Amplify has launched in the U.S. with an office in Los Angeles.
Marcus Childs, the experience agency’s U.K. managing partner, will run the U.S. venture as president, supported by executive vice-presidents Mark McDermott and Alex Smith, formerly Amplify’s U.K. business director and U.K. head of live respectively.
They will be joined by Amplify’s newly appointed executive vice-president of creative, Jamie Davies, and a further five hires are expected to be made locally within the year, serving launch clients including Facebook and HubSpot.
The agency has delivered brand strategy and experiences for both clients over the past three years in North America, which has led to the need for a U.S. offering. Currently, around 60 percent of the agency’s work is outside the U.K.
Amplify founder Jonathan Emmins explained: "The thought process behind establishing the U.S. office in 2020 is the same as when we set up our first international office in Australia back in 2018: client demand, long-standing Amplifiers skilled and ready for the challenge and a chance to make a difference after looking at the markets in focus.
"We've got a killer client list of global brands operating across the world, winning 17 further new clients in 2019 and more to date in 2020. The team is quietly growing and this is enabling us to apply our culture and brand-experience-first approach to an ever-more diverse range of brand and business challenges."
The Los Angeles operation launches a year after Amplify’s first overseas office in Australia, led by managing partner Gareth Davies. In its first 12 months, Amplify Australia won 10 clients, including Google, Nike, Spotify, The Iconic and YouTube.
Emmins added: "Although a significantly smaller market than the U.S., and with very different opportunities and challenges, this gave us confidence that the Amplify approach travels."