• by Larissa Faw , April 10, 2018

Maritz Motivation Solutions's Cartwheel, a new full-service digital agency, will include creative offerings for loyalty and employee engagement programs, as well as advertising and branding, content strategy and other services, such as digital and social marketing plans. 

Says Drew Carter, president, MMS: "Adding the creative expertise of Cartwheel takes our capabilities to another level, allowing us to add even more value for our clients."

Based in the St. Louis area near Maritz corporate headquarters, the Cartwheel team will be led by managing director Nick Foppe and executive creative director Jay Moore, who will oversee the creative team.

In addition to specifically hiring new creative talent, Cartwheel will take "advantage of the considerable expertise in decision and behavioral sciences" at MMS, says Foppe.  

“Big data provides marketers with more information than they have ever had before. Our mission is to help marketers make sense of data analytics and provide behavioral insight to deploy creative for the greatest impact,” adds Moore. 

The agency will serve as an independent agency, as well as service clients for Cartwheel's parent company, which works with marketing, human resources, and sales and channel marketing executives. 

The name was an obvious selection because Cartwheel takes an “upside-down” approach to advertising, using data and insights to drive creative, says Foppe. "Typically, agencies run creative and then analyze results. We turn that thinking upside down by using data to inform the creative. 

"It should be infused throughout the entire creative process to make the biggest impact."