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A new trend is emerging in advertising and marketing: accelerated agency consolidation. Faced with increasing competition, evolving client demands, and rapid technological advancements, agencies of all sizes are bulking up and adding on new services, talent, and expertise to stay competitive with the biggest players. We tracked ~45 agency M&A transactions in each of 2023 and 2022, significantly up from 27 M&A deals in 2021. RockWater provides buy-side and sell-side M&A, valuation and capital raising services for the sector.
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“Chris Erwin is one of the sharpest and well connected people I know in our industry. He and his team at RockWater provide clients with valuable insights into media, commerce, and the creator economy.”
James Creech, Co-Founder, Measure Studio
Key information for high-impact growth decisions. Market sizing, white space analysis, competitor landscapes, consumer surveys, risk assessments.
Buy and sell-side advisory. Due diligence, board recommendations, story and collateral building, investor introductions.
We take you from ideation to go-to-market planning and execution. Financial forecasts, board approvals, strategic partner roadshows, executive placement.
RockWater analysis to make you a better investor and operator. Today we publish the 2nd part of our annual letter, ...
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RockWater Roundup RockWater analysis to make you a better investor and operator. Today we discuss VidIQ’s purchase ...
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RockWater Roundup RockWater analysis to make you a better investor and operator. Today we discuss the 25 ...
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We specifically hired Chris and his team to support competitive landscape analysis, market intelligence and growth planning for branded ad sales ...
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Content and advertiser leadership sought to improve premium video integration opportunities for client partners. Conducted market research and ...
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Spacetoon Group is a premier MENA media and entertainment conglomerate with operations and distribution across over 20 countries. Their business ...
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Team Coco is a digitally-native comedy brand, and a joint venture between Conan O’Brien and WarnerMedia. Entering 2020 Team Coco sought to ...
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Orca is a complete livestream and social commerce solution that has produced thousands of hours of shoppable content, leading to millions of ...
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FAO Schwarz is the world's most renowned specialty kids toy manufacturer and retailer. Since being founded over 160 years ago, the company has ...
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PORTAL A is an award-winning branded and original content company. The company's accolades include being named Agency of the Year by The Streamys...
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XL Media (LSE: XLMedia PLC) is a global performance publisher. It combines the power of people, data-driven behavioral insight, and captivating ...
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Red Seat Ventures partners with talent, brands, and influencers to fund, build, and operate unique businesses. Founder and executive leadership ...
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Atmosphere is a free multi-channel TV streaming service with content designed for businesses offering 51 original and partner TV channels. ...
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FilmNation Entertainment, one of the world’s preeminent independent entertainment companies, sought to diversify and complement its core film and ...
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At Prism Labs, the cutting edges of computer vision, machine learning, depth cameras, and human physiology are being fused into powerful software ...
Learn moreWe specifically hired Chris and his team to support competitive landscape analysis, market intelligence and growth planning for branded ad sales solutions – as we better understood his broader capability set, we expanded our engagement to include new IP incubation ideas, IP valuation and more. I highly recommend RockWater to any client in need of sharp and actionable strategy advisory.
Thomas De Napoli, Sr. Director of Viacom Velocity
Content and advertiser leadership sought to improve premium video integration opportunities for client partners. Conducted market research and peer benchmarking of premium branded content initiatives by major social video platforms to inform future planning and new inventory development.
Spacetoon Group is a premier MENA media and entertainment conglomerate with operations and distribution across over 20 countries. Their business units consist of a flagship linear TV channel, SVOD streaming service, theatrical distributor, mobile and console game publisher, CPG manufacturing and distribution, and O&O events exhibition. They are trusted as the exclusive MENA licensee for leading kids & family IP including: Cocomelon, Ryan’s World, Naruto, Dragon Ball Super, Hello Kitty, Blippi, Hapee Capee, and more.
Spacetoon executive leadership engaged RockWater to develop a business plan for acquiring international kids and family IP.
The RockWater team was an invaluable resource. They provided us with a comprehensive framework to identify best fit acquisition targets, and then built us a custom business plan to operationalize their recommendations. They felt like a natural extension of our team, despite being located on the complete opposite side of the world. They’ve also been very helpful with introducing us to western IP rights holders. We’d be happy to work with them again
Kamal Weiss, General Director
Team Coco is a digitally-native comedy brand, and a joint venture between Conan O’Brien and WarnerMedia. Entering 2020 Team Coco sought to capitalize on incredible revenue and M&A market momentum. Their executive leadership required advisory to define their growth strategy and execution plan, board communications, and buy-side M&A diligence and valuation.
In my role as COO of Team Coco, when we decided we needed help strategizing and plotting new growth initiatives, RockWater was the first call I made.
Adam Sachs, COO
Orca is a complete livestream and social commerce solution that has produced thousands of hours of shoppable content, leading to millions of product sales. Orca is platform-agnostic, delivering shoppable content across all major social media platforms, brand-owned DTC sites and everywhere else content is published online. Orca has worked with leading consumer brands and retailers, including Estee Lauder, Zappos, Samsung, and Amazon.
Orca’s founders tapped RockWater to deep dive into their operating performance and determine key insights .
I’ve crossed paths with Chris many times over my two decades working in digital media, and have always appreciated his thoughtful approach to solving complex problems. Orca grew extremely fast in 2023. We engaged Rockwater to evaluate our performance, sift through massive troves of data, and provide insights and recommendations on optimizing our operations. Their work helped us to continue on our growth trajectory without missing a beat. They’re a valuable partner I’d absolutely work with again
Max Benator, Co-Founder & CEO
FAO Schwarz is the world’s most renowned specialty kids toy manufacturer and retailer. Since being founded over 160 years ago, the company has transformed into an omnichannel brand across brick & mortar, wholesale, and web and social commerce. The company is owned by ThreeSixty Group, which owns and operates 5+ global consumer brands including Vornado and Sharper Image.
To plan FAO’s digital transformation, we needed an expert team who understood how parents and kids are spending their time and money online, which is powering new direct-to-consumer business models for toy retailers. RockWater was a great bolt-on partner to us and facilitated outlining an exciting new growth strategy for FAO Schwarz.
Jan-Eric Kloth, President, International Sales, Retail, & Corporate Strategy at ThreeSixty Group
PORTAL A is an award-winning branded and original content company. The company’s accolades include being named Agency of the Year by The Streamys, Video Agency of the Year by Digiday, and a Top 20 Content Creator by AdWeek. Its clients include Google, Amazon, Target, Disney, MLB, and Snapchat. The company’s founders engaged RockWater to evaluate both its existing and new planned business lines within branded and original content. The strategy assignment resulted in a new investment and resource plan, to help drive revenue growth and accelerate new market entry.
RockWater was a great executive ally. They took time to understand our growth needs, created a custom workplan, and executed with precision. Their recommendations were data-based and actionable, and are now part of our operating plan. RockWater also brought good energy to our org, which helped get team buy-in. We look forward to working with them again.
Zach Blume, Co-Founder and President at Portal-A
XL Media (LSE: XLMedia PLC) is a global performance publisher. It combines the power of people, data-driven behavioral insight, and captivating editorial content to build valuable connections between brands and consumers.
When we began looking for intelligence partners, we knew we wanted a group who would work with us as part of a team, not a vendor. We found exactly what we were looking for in RockWater. Starting from a very open place, they were comfortable with and capable of helping us identify and focus on the most advantageous areas of business for the group. The research they deliver is consistently contextual, actionable and valuable in driving strategic decisions and growth.
Elizabeth Carter, VP of Marketing and Taylor Quist, Head of Global Brand Strategy
Red Seat Ventures partners with talent, brands, and influencers to fund, build, and operate unique businesses. Founder and executive leadership sought investment targets for a Content x Commerce investor roll-up strategy, optimization of their user acquisition “funnel” across 6+ digital channels, and an audience and marketing forecast model.
RockWater delivers something few others can: unique perspective. Chris and his team analyze the complicated playing field and cut through the BS to deliver actionable insights that add immediate value. RockWater acts as an extension of my own team, adding a tool to our toolbox at the exact moment we need it.
Chris Balfe, Founder & Partner
Atmosphere is a free multi-channel TV streaming service with content designed for businesses offering 51 original and partner TV channels. Atmosphere offers an incredibly powerful advertising medium where brands can develop contextualized advertising campaigns with highly targeted delivery by venue-type, geography, or content channel type. The platform was developed using proprietary content, technology, and data to deliver unparalleled experiences for businesses, consumers, and advertisers. The business was incubated within Chive Media Group and spun out in 2019.
Chris and the RockWater team gave us the exact leverage we were looking for in an advisor. The team brings deep industry perspective, thoughtful frameworks, and a strong network of relationships.
Mike Grisko, CFO
FilmNation Entertainment, one of the world’s preeminent independent entertainment companies, sought to diversify and complement its core film and TV businesses by expanding into audio and digital, with the end goal of broadening its storytelling platform and driving additional enterprise value.
RockWater’s team dovetails incredibly sophisticated marketplace intelligence with an impressive, far-reaching network of leading professionals at nearly every top digital-focused company – with this powerful combination, they provide clients with invaluable strategic insights and guidance. Chris and the team helped us quickly identify and prioritize opportunity lanes for FilmNation as we expanded our global content platform into the digital space. We’d recommend them with the highest praise, in a heartbeat.
Milan Popelka, COO
At Prism Labs, the cutting edges of computer vision, machine learning, depth cameras, and human physiology are being fused into powerful software solutions that will transform the fitness and wellness industries and lead the way towards the reliable and robust capture of human performance in the metaverse.
Prism Labs is built by a team of experts in a variety of fields that have come together to push the limits of what is possible in 3D human reconstruction. The company has offices in Vienna and Graz, Austria and Los Angeles, CA. The company’s leadership engaged RockWater to help them evaluate strategic go-to-market and capital allocation decisions.
Prism Labs isn’t a media company, but having worked with Chris closely in the past I jumped at the chance to use his advisory services to help us evaluate some strategic options. With RockWater you can count on thoughtful, flexible, diligent and extremely capable support. RockWater’s strong positive culture shines through with every interaction.
Steve Raymond, CEO
"In the crowded landscape of media advisors and analysts, Chris and the RockWater team stand out for their impressive level of insight and substance, which has served as a secret weapon more than once. Their network within the audio field is unparalleled, and they have a keen ins…
"Christopher and team were extraordinarily helpful as we were finding our way early on with social commerce. Our situation was unique, which meant that our options would be as well...Rockwater's expertise and enthusiasm for the space provided lights on the path. I knew immediat…
“RockWater is at the forefront of where new media and sports are headed. Publishers, investors, brands, and tech co's know that to stay ahead of the game, they need a partner like RockWater to make sense of the ecosystem shifts, platform evolutions, and the underlying strategie…
“I turn to the Rockwater team whenever I need to separate the signal from the noise in tracking the rapid evolution of the creator economy and its disruption to traditional media models. Rockwater’s content – newsletter, forecasts and podcast – are some of the most reliab…
“I have worked with Chris Erwin, both informally and formally, for several years. Chris was a trusted, valued advisor when I took my company, Midroll Media (now Stitcher), through a successful M&A process that ultimately ended in a sale to EW Scripps. In my role as COO of Team …
“Chris and his team at RockWater are highly skilled at taking market trends and analyzing them in a digestible and useful way. The level of attention to detail that they bring to all of their work is outstanding and I really enjoy how in depth he goes with his guests on the pod…
“The RockWater team was an invaluable resource. They provided us with a comprehensive framework to identify best fit acquisition targets, and then built us a custom business plan to operationalize their recommendations. They felt like a natural extension of our team, despite be…
"To plan FAO's digital transformation, we needed an expert team who understood how parents and kids are spending their time and money online, which is powering new direct-to-consumer business models for toy retailers. RockWater was a great bolt-on partner to us and facilitated ou…
“Chris is one of the smartest people in media I know. He has the unique ability to be super strategic while also caring deeply about operational execution. Chris and the RockWater team truly get where modern media is today and where it’s headed, with a special expertise aroun…
"RockWater was a great executive ally. They took time to understand our growth needs, created a custom workplan, and executed with precision. Their recommendations were data-based and actionable, and are now part of our operating plan. RockWater also brought good energy to our or…
“Chris’s team delivered sharp decision-making frameworks and actionable market intelligence for our leadership. Their work significantly accelerated our go-forward planning and new product development. I regularly bounce new business ideas off Chris, as he has a great mind…
“RockWater’s team dovetails incredibly sophisticated marketplace intelligence with an impressive, far-reaching network of leading professionals at nearly every top digital-focused company – with this powerful combination, they provide clients with invaluable strategic insig…
“RockWater is my oracle for the media and commerce world. Chris Erwin and his team help me think many, many moves ahead of most players because they deeply understand all the pieces from a variety of perspectives.” …
“RockWater delivers something few others can: unique perspective. Chris and his team analyze the complicated playing field and cut through the BS to deliver actionable insights that add immediate value. RockWater acts as an extension of my own team, adding a tool to our toolbox…
“Every time I’ve worked and spent time with Chris and his RockWater team it’s been a true joy. He deeply understands where the market is headed and provides actionable insights and guidance to help companies launch profitable new businesses. He also has a deep and wide-rang…
“Prism Labs isn't a media company, but having worked with Chris closely in the past I jumped at the chance to use his advisory services to help us evaluate some strategic options. With Rockwater you can count on thoughtful, flexible, diligent and extremely capable support. Rock…
"RockWater has been a great consigliere to Rolla. Their team offers guidance on everything from fundraising and business models to product and go-to-market strategies. Their expertise at the intersection of real estate and the creator economy has been super helpful, and they alwa…
"When we began looking for intelligence partners, we knew we wanted a group who would work with us as part of a team, not a vendor. We found exactly what we were looking for in RockWater. Starting from a very open place, they were comfortable with and capable of helping us ...
"...we’ve had a wonderfully positive experience with RockWater’s support in scaling our opportunities with revenue and partnerships.”…
“Chris and the RockWater team gave us the exact leverage we were looking for in an advisor. The team brings deep industry perspective, thoughtful frameworks and a strong network of relationships." …
"Chris and his team are not just collaborators, they're visionaries. They see opportunities for clients that they don't see themselves. We have ideated with RockWater, and think of them as a group of creatives, as well as strategists." …
"Chris and the RockWater team provide a differentiated perspective on the sports ecosystem. Specifically, their ability to leverage their deep expertise in media and apply it to frontier markets such as sports betting and esports helped us to flesh out white space ...
