SPARK Joins Worldwide Partners Independent Agency Network
SPARK has recently joined the Worldwide Partners (WPI) global network of independent agencies. SPARK is a collaborative creative agency that helps brands ignite their true potential. SPARK is headquartered in Tampa Bay, FL, USA with teams across California, Atlanta, GA and New York City, NY.
The Truth Is Out There
– SPARK believes that everything must start and end with the truth.
"We believe every little thing a brand does matters, but more than anything it's about what they do,” said Michael Peters, founder of SPARK. “That’s why we help brands look inward to find their truth, live it with their every move, and share it with employees and fans. That truth has the potential to create a burning passion that transforms a brand - inside and out."
SPARK helps uncover truths and transform brands through five key solutions: They build lasting Branding based on meaningful insights, and bring them to life in extraordinary ways, helping their clients stand out, and stand for something. They create Culture Design, helping companies live their brands from the inside-out, energising teams, inspiring passion and transforming experiences. They put creativity and innovation to work to develop Campaigns, capturing attention and giving fans something real to rally behind. They use insight-driven community building to develop Social Media initiatives that generate a direct connection between brands and audiences, igniting loyalty, engagement and action. And through their Content Studio, they create powerful visuals rooted in brand truth, with responsive, flexible production capabilities.
Embracing a Tourism Legacy
SPARK’s headquarters is located in a unique and diverse US State. Florida has the third highest Hispanic population in the United States, representing multiple Caribbean, South American and Central American countries. The state also has the largest volume of African American-owned businesses in the country and one of the largest Pride parades in St. Petersburg. And adding to its uniqueness and diversity, the largest population in Florida at any given time are tourists visiting the state.
These distinctive market dynamics have helped SPARK to sharpen their reliance on data and research to guide their strategies, and forced them to expand their creative thinking to develop messaging and activations that are both relevant and breakthrough. “Florida has honed SPARK’s ability to bring an equal balance of right brain/left brain thinking to create meaningful and effective work,” said Dulani Porter, partner of SPARK.
It has also led them to embrace the legacy of tourism that defines the state, and allowed them to develop a depth of experience and clients in the travel and tourism space, such as VISIT FLORIDA, Brand USA, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Marriott. “While we are an agency that enjoys remaining industry agnostic, we have been partnering with travel clients since 2009 and haven’t looked back since,” Dulani added.
SPARK used their balanced brain dominance to help VISIT FLORIDA manage the COVID crisis effectively while proactively planning for economic recovery coming out of the pandemic. They developed the largest broadcast co-op campaign the state has ever undertaken, which created record-breaking travel visitation numbers (70%+ lift in visitation and 9M visitors more than projected!) and helped the state’s tourism economy bounce back stronger than ever.
Substance and The Machine
Like most agencies today, SPARK is exploring AI’s place in the advertising world. Certainly they are determining how it can be used to automate some of the more manual and mundane tasks of marketing and advertising processes, but they also see it as a larger opportunity for exploring how to take advantage of the time they gain back. Can it create more room for creativity as expectations on pace and volume have increased? Does it allow for more time with data to uncover new opportunities to help clients stand out?
“We are following our curiosity down the path to see what this new tech can really help us gain as an agency, and mitigating any risks that could come from AI as well,” Dulani said. “But we know that the core of what we bring as creative thinkers, strategists and partners to our clients and each other is not something that technology can ever replicate.”
SPARK knows that, no matter how advanced technology gets, it will never replace the human element that is so vital to what we do as marketing and advertising professionals. To be successful in advertising, you must understand humanity and what makes people tick, to create connections that are deeper than product features or specs, to nurture relationships that can only be done at a human level.
“True creativity comes from our ability to see potential in the world around us, and our ability to embrace the grey areas,” Michael added. “Our ideas come from accepting a world that is not full of absolutes. It comes from our humanity.”
A Culture of Genuine Collaboration
SPARK fits right in with the Worldwide Partners network because collaboration is at the core of everything they do. Whether it’s inside their own walls, with clients or with other agency partners, they are unapologetic about living their core values – All In, All Together, Always Forward – and making sure clients, employees and partners know that they take them very seriously.
“SPARK is thrilled to join WPI and become part of a network of talented, creative thinkers across the globe to better serve our clients, to continue growing our business, and to learn from and support other agencies in their own journeys,” said Dulani. “We have been impressed with the calibre of agencies already a part of the network, and the philosophy of collaboration that drives the organisation.”
“SPARK’s commitment to collaboration and exceptional credentials in tourism, retail and healthcare make them an ideal partner for our network,” said John Harris, president and CEO of Worldwide Partners. “With the addition of SPARK, we’ve enhanced our network’s key capabilities that create an even more powerful alternative for CMOs.”
