Top GOP media shop IMGE has acquired an equity position in AdVictory LLC, a buying and media planning firm founded by Adam Meldrum in 2015. The two firms will “continue to operate as stand-alone entities as well as continue to partner on many joint projects/client services,” according to IMGE.
In an interview with C&E, Meldrum, who joined IMGE as a senior advisor in 2023, characterized the tie-up as an outgrowth of work the two shops were doing for some time, which included IMGE Creative Director Emily Karrs leading an ad measurement initiative for clients that relied on data from AdVictory LLC.
“We’re doing a lot of work together so it made good sense from a business perspective to have an equity position with IMGE and AdVictory together,” Meldrum said. “It’s not all of the book of business of AdVictory and not all of the book of business of IMGE, but it was two firms with aligned interest and a great working relationship that were doing a lot together.”
Because IMGE is part of GP3, an umbrella LLC that joined together 10 Republican public affairs, polling, mail and campaign consulting firms, the equity purchase required cutting through some red tape to complete.
A potential sale of GP3 at some point, which is what its founders have said was the goal of the rollup, wasn’t touched on directly in the equity deal, according to Meldrum.
“We really didn’t get into that, from my point of view, with this deal because the deal was really just between IMGE and AdVictory.”
