Tampa Bay marketing agencies Big Sea and Sparxoo merge
Two prominent Tampa Bay marketing agencies are merging to form a full-service digital marketing company.
Big Sea and Sparxoo announced Tuesday they are merging and will create a larger firm under the Big Sea brand, which will bolster Big Sea’s digital capabilities in performance marketing, experience design and video storytelling. Through the merger, the combined company will have 42 employees and approximately $6 million in annual revenues.
“For me, it’s all about the people,” said Big Sea COO and managing partner Dzuy Nguyen. “When we met with Rob Kane [President of Sparxoo], it all made sense.” Big Sea, a 22-employee agency based in St. Petersburg, started talking with Sparxoo in 2020 about the potential of a merger, he explained, and the conversations reignited in 2021.
“You’re finding more agencies partnering with one another. We know the challenges and opportunities in the marketplace and Big Sea has done great work in SEO and content creation, and we are proficient in design,” Kane said.
Big Sea’s clients include Mote Marine, Accusoft, Stetson University College of Law, the University of Tampa and others. Meanwhile, Sparxoo, a 20-employee agency based in Tampa, has such clients as Tech Data, Cigar City Brewing, Florida Atlantic University, Amalie Oil and the City of Clearwater.
The pair found themselves at times competing for similar clients and realized the growth potential and strengths that they could leverage.
The financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
As a result of the merger, Sparxoo, which pivoted to a fully remote workforce due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will utilize Big Sea’s space in the Thrive co-working hub in downtown St. Petersburg. The firms discussed potentially opening a Tampa office location as well.
C-Suite executives such as Big Sea’s CEO and managing partner Andi Graham, Kane and Nguyen will retain their titles with the combined agency.
However, David Capece, founder and CEO of Sparxoo, will leave the agency after a transition period to focus on growing his software company CROOW, an innovative platform that streamlines creative collaboration for projects.
Additionally, Sparxoo Studios, Sparzoo’s video storytelling studio, will now be led by Michael Martz.
