360 Youth has come of age.
Formerly a unit of MarketSource Corp., the Crandbury, NJ-based company has emerged from its $43 million acquisition by Alloy, Inc. in 2001 to be the flagship brand for Alloy's youth and college marketing stable.
The Alloy buying binge includes companies such as Marketplace Media and the media unit of YouthStream. The acquisitions accounted for 58% of 360 Youth's $84.6 million in revenue in 2002, up a whopping 285% from $21.9 million in 2001. New client business and existing clients accounted for 21% each.
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| RACK 'EM UP: (l-r) Samantha Skey, Derek White, Dave Bidwell |
“Consolidation is what this market was looking for,” says 360 Youth CEO Derek White. “It had been very fragmented — there was one place to do events, one place to go for sampling, etc. Now instead of spending $500,000 apiece with four different agencies, they can spend $1.8 million with us and get everything.” That includes putting together an enviable database of more than 20,000 partnerships with kid-friendly venues, such as schools and malls.
Procter & Gamble's Old Spice got everything it wanted when it tapped 360 Youth for the High Endurance Red Zone High School Football of the Year program. Built on the age-old fact that it pays to associate with the popular kids, the campaign asked high school football coaches to help chose the Player of the Year. Marketing kits were sent to more than 4,000 schools, including samples of Old Spice Red Zone, logoed football practice merchandise (water bottles, towels, whistles) and a coach's playbook outlining the program.
Every week coaches could submit a player to the Red Zone Football committee, which chose the national finalists. A full-page ad in USA Today recognized the 50 winners.
360 Youth can find a way to make almost any brand look cool, as evidenced by its work for Phisoderm's new Clear Swab product. The program combines school, online and print elements. Kids can enter a sweepstakes to win their choice of a California Surf Camp Vacation or a Spin to NYC to Learn to Spin at the late Run DMC co-founder Jam Master Jay's own studio.
“What appeals to me about 360 Youth is that you can develop a teen-targeted program that reaches teens in multiple places during their busy day,” says Phisoderm brand manager Gail Jenkins.
Whether or not 360 Youth will endure the growing pains that caught up with other promotions agencies after aggressive growth remains to be seen, but White is confident 360 Youth is on the right track. “There's always skepticism when you're bringing together lots of companies, and rightfully so,” he adds. “It's difficult and a lot of things can go wrong. A lot of our growth is due to acquisition, but if you look at each of those individual agencies, their pro forma growth is over 20% year-to-year.”
And that's not child's play.
