Omnicom Group has taken full control of Calgary-based digital agency Critical Mass.
The New York-based holding company acquired 50% of Critical Mass in 1999 and recently bought out the remaining stock.
“Fundamentally, it’s not a gigantic change because Omnicom has been a majority owner for years,” said Dianne Wilkins, CEO of Critical Mass, in an interview with Marketing. “But we’re excited about it because it does put us completely in the Omnicom family and potentially opens up more collaboration opportunities with other Omnicom agencies… And ultimately, it could give us the opportunity to have a single owner that is looking to invest in ways to grow Critical Mass.”
Wilkins, who is currently based in Calgary, plans to move to New York next month. Wilkins said headquarters would stay in Calgary, where Critical Mass has 250 employees.
“It’s still our largest office and I think it will always be the heart and soul of Critical Mass,” she said. “The move [to New York] is more of a personal decision… I’m there almost every second week right now and living on the road. So it was one of those things where it was time for a bit of an adventure.”
Critical Mass was founded in 1995 and now has more than 700 people and eight full-service offices worldwide, operating in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
