• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 5, 2022

This year is ad agency Doner’s 85th anniversary. To celebrate, parent Stagwell has acquired creative agency Wolfgang, which becomes part of Stagwell’s Doner Partners Network (DPN), a group of creative and specialist agencies led by CEO David DeMuth. Terms weren’t disclosed. Stagwell has owned a minority stake in Wolfgang since 2019 and now owns 100%. 

In part the M&A deal is designed to expand DPN’s presence on the West Coast—Wolfgang, which opened in 2017, is based in Santa Monica, CA. 

As part of the arrangement, founding partners of Wolfgang are adding leadership roles within DPN and Stagwell. 

Colin Jeffery, currently Chief Creative Officer of Wolfgang, will become the CCO of Doner, overseeing Doner and Wolfgang’s creative departments. 

Mike Geiger, CEO of Wolfgang and former president of JWT North America, will add the title of CEO of DPN production studio Cahoots. Under Geiger’s leadership, Cahoots will continue to provide clients access to directorial talent and postproduction capabilities. He’s also tasked with expanding its offerings and talent roster. 

Seema Miller, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Strategy Officer, Wolfgang, will remain in that role with the additional remit of leading strategic and new business initiatives across Stagwell. Miller has held leadership roles in strategic planning at David&Goliath, Wieden+Kennedy and Leo Burnett.

Doner clients include McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Stellantis, Amazon, JBL, Hackensack Meridian Health, Bloomberg Media, The UPS Store, and others. Wolfgang clients include NBC Universal, Brawny, Adidas, Gillette and others.