L-R: Simon Rojas, co-owner, Derooted; Marlo Taylor, partner and GM, Energi PR; Carol Levine, CEO and co-founder, Energi PR. Back: Amir Ebrahimnia, co-owner, Derooted.

Energi PR and Derooted Creative Agency have formed a strategic partnership aimed at expanding and complementing the services of both agencies.

It all started when Energi PR moved from the ground floor to the third floor of its Toronto office and became neighbours with Derooted. “As we got to know each other and understand more about each other’s business, we realized that we had these amazing complementary offerings,” said Marlo Taylor, partner and general manager at Energi PR, which also has an office in Montreal. “We realized that with a shared vision of what the future of communications looks like, this was an opportunity to see what we could make of combining both offerings.”

Derooted offers branding, design and creative services, but its major focus is experiential marketing, which was a big draw for Energi PR. “The ability to immerse the consumer in a brand experience is going to be critical to how people encounter brands going forward,” said Taylor. “So we thought the two of us together can accomplish that really powerfully.”

For Derooted, the partnership allows the company “to finally provide the fundamental base of strategy and PR in all marketing aspects that Energi brings to our team now,” said agency co-owner Simón Rojas.

When clients want to execute bigger campaigns, “they want a traditional approach in terms of the PR and the metrics of it,” he added. “As a creative house that’s focused on execution, we [couldn’t] deliver that… Now we’re able to offer it with a company that has 25 years’ experience doing it and a track record that’s amazing.”

The two agencies will pitch new business together and look at how their current clients can benefit from the partnership. “It’s not just a matter of having somebody down the hall that we can bring into a project when we need them. The expectation is that [Derooted will] be at the table,” said Taylor.

Asked if an acquisition is in the cards, Taylor said the strategic partnership makes the most sense at this time. “I think this is going to work really well for us at the moment,” she said.