• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 4, 2023

Omnicom’s TBWA\Worldwide has acquired Dark Horses, a UK-based creative agency with a focus on sport, fitness, and health/wellness. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The agency, founded in 2016, is led by CEO Melissa Robertson, executive creative director Steve Howell and Chief Strategy Officer, Matt Readman.

The agency’s work includes supporting major sponsorship deals for Nissan, developing TikTok assets for UEFA EURO 2020 and creating Shelter’s #NoHomeKit which encourages football clubs to donate their home uniforms to the homeless.  It also helped to launch Peloton in the UK market.

In 2022, the agency created ‘The Seven Deadly Sins of Marketing Women’s Sport’ , a guide on how to promote women’s sport as it strives for parity on and off the field.

Capabilities include brand creation platforms, experiential marketing, strategy and social content, PR, sponsorship and influencer marketing.

TBWA Global CEO Troy Ruhanen stated, “we’re always looking for those deep specialists that complement us and add significant expertise to the total brand experience of our clients. I’m excited to see what growth [Dark Horses} can unlock across the board.”