Insights

Event Marketing Agency mdg becomes A Freeman Company

Full-service event marketing and public relations agency mdg has been purchased by Freeman, an international brand experience company with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The acquisition is part of an overarching strategy that allows Freeman to serve its clients more holistically and streamlines the customer journey, from pre-event marketing, to the onsite user experience, to post-show communications based on data-informed insights.

“The events business is undergoing a significant transformation — one that requires a sophisticated degree of integration around the convergence of brand strategy, data and content,” said Bob Priest-Heck, president and CEO, The Freeman Company. “The combination of Freeman’s ability to translate strategy and data into meaningful on-site experiences with mdg’s ability to translate those insights into audience-building marketing campaigns, will enable us to offer organizers a seamless solution that was never before possible.”

mdg will continue operating as its own independent business unit within Freeman, giving the agency the freedom and autonomy to serve all event organizers, regardless of their existing relationship to Freeman. Over the next several months, however, integration specialists will begin building processes and service offerings that will facilitate the delivery of messaging, content and experiences based on online and onsite behavioral insights. These processes include the unification of strategic planning with campaign performance modeling, benchmarking, optimization and reporting.

Former mdg owners Kimberly Hardcastle and Vincent Polito will retain their current roles within the agency, though both anticipate dedicating more time to client services and less to business administration. According to Hardcastle, “Over its 41-year history, mdg has continuously evolved to stay relevant in a dynamic marketing landscape, blending strategy, creativity, and technology solutions to help clients achieve their organizational objectives. Being part of Freeman is another giant step in that evolution and helps ensure the continued success of both the agency and, more importantly, the clients it serves. Our vision is that together we will create more engaging, personalized customer journeys through an omnichannel approach to event and association marketing.”