• by Larissa Faw , November 4, 2015

Digital shop nFusion knew it had a problem. As Pepsi's Brad Jakeman succinctly pointed out during ANA's conference, “There is no such thing as digital marketing. There is marketing — most of which happens to be digital.”

Now, nFusion is unveiling its new operational structure as it evolves from a digital shop to a full-service agency. "We dropped digital from our vernacular," says nFusion's managing director Matt Huser. "We [now develop] the complete transformation for clients. We still use data to drive decisions, but it isn't just about numbers. We use real research to understand customer behaviors and deliver insights that influence their journeys." 

Huser has been leading the agency’s restructuring since he took the reins last November. Huser, who formerly served with Sapient, BBDO, and JWT, was frustrated with the traditional digital agency model of passing along 40% of overhead to clients, the slow decision-making process, and inefficient silos. As a result, in April, Huser "blew up" the 50-staff agency, eliminating "overhead that wasn't needed and serving accounts." He reassigned work to make teams "more connected" and "nimble" allowing for them to make quicker decisions.  

While the first half of the year was "rough," the agency has rebounded by recently signing several new clients, including Sitecore, Daimler's driverless car platform called Here, and a major American food brand. 

The shop recently introduced a new platform for Google that aims to position the tech brand as a rival to Adobe. “We are proud to partner with each of these new brands to create and implement modern marketing strategies that drive business results,” says John Ellett, CEO/founder, nFusion. "Ultimately, the results are what matters and when the consumers become brand champions, the brands we steward win.” 

nFusion also serves as Samsung's agency, and recently introduced work to promote its high definition televisions. "After 14 years we have restructured and now we are seeing Google, technology companies coming to us to help them with more than just digital experiences, but [complete] marketing strategies," says Huser. 

After scaling down in the spring, the agency is once again beefing up. It recently hired Ellen Kolsto as VP of insights and planning and Brad Saxon as senior user experience architect. Huser expects to increase headcount from 32 to 48 within the next six weeks "if we can find the right people."