Diana Marszalek 31 Mar 2021 // 5:39PM GMT
NEW YORK — Lippe Taylor has purchased employee-focused consultancy Cheer Partners, marking this the agency’s first acquisition in its 30-year history.
The addition of Cheer Partners, which specializes in employee communications and experience, expands Lippe Taylor’s internal communications capabilities at a time when organizations are paying increased attention to the importance of engaging their workforces.
“With the shift to remote work and emotional burden of the past year, employee engagement has skyrocketed to the top of our clients' concerns,” said Lippe Taylor Group CEO Paul Dyer. “We realized that in order to offer the best support to our clients, we needed to take our capabilities to another level.”
Cheer Partners founder and chief executive Cat Colella-Graham will serve as president of Cheer Partners, which will retain its name under the Lippe Taylor Group umbrella. While the agencies will combine operations, Cheer Partners’ existing team will continue serving clients, providing a “seamless” transition — albeit it with access to new capabilities, Colella-Graham said.
“A big benefit is when our clients need external and digital marketing, they can immediately plug in the Lippe Taylor team. Together we can provide broader services under one [master service agreement]. And, of course, we can jump in and support their clients’ needs for internal communications, DE&I or any of our offerings,” she said. “It truly is a win-win for clients and team alike. I am so very impressed by the leadership of Lippe Taylor, their approach to team and client work.”
Lippe Taylor grew around 7% in 2020 and, last year, was finalist for PRovoke Media's small agency of the year. The Cheer Partners acquisition is the latest in a string of moves aimed at agency growth since Dyer was named Lippe Taylor CEO and president in March as part of a larger leadership reshuffle. Opening a Minneapolis office — the agency’s first outside New York — with the goal of expanding regional business was among the most significant steps.
Cheer Partners is a relatively new operation, having launched in 2017 with talent, HR advisory and employee communications among its specialties. The following year, the consultancy struck a partnership with RF|Binder, which dissolved after several months.