• by Fern Siegel , January 26, 2023

McKinney has acquired August United, a top influencer-marketing agency based in Phoenix.

August United provides various services, including strategy, content development and partnership management.

In addition, McKinney, a creative-media agency, will also acquire Tailwind, the performance-media arm of Audacious Studios, which sold August United.

Financial details were not disclosed.

“The last few years have not only accelerated the use of social media in general, but also the time spent with user-generated content,” said Joe Maglio, CEO, McKinney. “Influencers are at the core of that growth, and as a result, influencer marketing is becoming a more integral part of our clients’ marketing plans."

He noted micro and mid-tier influencers are August United’s focus area and “have been shown to drive significant engagement and impact purchase decisions.”

Influencer Marketing Hub predicts that marketers will spend more than $4.5 billion on influencers in 2023 and that the global influencer marketing platform market size will reach $84 billion by 2028. The buying power rests with Gen Z and millennials

Margie Traylor, co-founder, August United, said: “When we refocused on influencer marketing in 2015, we knew that it would go from the fringe to the core of a brand’s social-media strategy. As we scaled our offering, we decided it was time to take a bigger leap forward.”

August United clients include Microsoft, Samsung, Nestle, Sam's Club, Petsmart and P.F. Chang’s.

Durham, N.C.-based McKinney also has offices in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York. It is part of the Chiel Worldwide network.