• by April 28, 2011

In a deal involving two Washington, D.C.-area firms, digital agency Tailor Media Group has acquired the creative side of KCW Design Group, which will retain its IT staffing business. The value of the transaction was $3 million, plus stock and cash options, says Tailor Media president Ben Taylor. 

The acquisition swells the size of Tailor's Arlington, Va.-based staff from 67 to 113 employees -- and, key to the deal, hands the 11-year-old agency a previously untapped client base in one of the region's prime industries: governments.

Previously, Taylor noted, Tailor Media had focused on the private sector and KCW on the public sector.

As a result of the merger, Taylor said the agency now has contracts involving the U.S. House of Representatives, Department of Defense, Marine Corps, Air Force and other government business. Holdover clients include national work for Imax Theatres, plus the NFL's Washington Redskins and the NHL's Washington Capitals.

In addition to entertainment and sports, Tailor Media has a large focus in the hospitality, legal and IT industries, with services including social-media strategy, search engine marketing, branding and identity, Web development and application.