Though Wieden & Kennedy may be the biggest and best-known agency in Portland, Ore., Pollinate has been making a name for itself since it opened its doors in 2008. Its 25 employees handle clients including specialty cooking retailer Sur La Table, Wilson Sporting Goods and Leatherman Tool Group, and the agency's leaders have diversified enough that no one clients accounts for more than 15% of the agency's revenue.
Pollinate touts its employees not as specialists in media or digital or TV, but as "problem solvers" and "hybrid thinkers" who can tackle any business problem. For nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, for example, Pollinate spread the word on oceanic trash dumping and its impact on human, marine and other animal life. The print, digital and social effort helped educate consumers on the dangers of plastic bags, but it also doubled website traffic for Surfrider and led the group to receive the No. 1 and No. 9 Facebook posts among all environmental groups in 2012.
Revenue for Pollinate in 2012 was $6 million, and is projected to hit $10 million this year.
