Begun as an influencer agency, Team Epiphany, founded by former MTV VJ and wife Lisa Chu, really hit its stride in 2019. The shop has been known for its work with entertainment brands such as HBO, Netflix, Amazon and more but has been building its influence with consumer packaged goods brands over time. Last year, it expanded relationships with blue chip clients like Coca-Cola, for which it had been producing its Essence Festival activations in New Orleans, into landing a designation as its first experiential agency of record for the brand's Coke Energy introduction in North America. The shop also notched assignments for two Unilever brands, Shea Moisture & Vaseline, for developing brand extensions based on influencer work. And it opened an Los Angeles office due to brisk business.

But it's the evolution to what Team Epiphany calls the "next generation of influencer marketing" that helped it notch $32 million in revenue last year, up from $25 million in 2018. In its entry, Team Epiphany says its secret sauce is "engaging with influential communities over the physical influencer."

Among its buzzworthy successes last year were a pop-up experience around the Day of the Dead for Espolon Tequila (including a limited edition magazine eerily called Death); an immersive weekend-long, pop-up experience for HBO to highlight its film What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali; and a splashy coming-out party for Coke's Energy in Los Angeles on Grammys weekend. Those activations also helped Team Epiphany also earn a nod for Experiential Agency of the Year, Silver.