The merger last year of two cornerstone nonprofit direct response agencies, Russ Reid and Grizzard, has resulted in the agency being renamed One & All.
The name change follows an extensive re-branding effort, in partnership with a global branding firm to define the combined agency.
“One & All literally means everyone,” said Alan Hall, chief executive officer of the agency. “It speaks to the deep emotional connection and shared purpose that people experience when they engage with nonprofits. It taps into the power of sharing, the sense that we can achieve more through cooperation than competition, and that by donating, we are paying back what we have received in life. It’s the basis of the Golden Rule,” he said.
“Our new name is built on the legacy of our two brands, and launches us into the future of nonprofit fundraising because it conveys the idea that everyone can have a collective part in doing good,” said Jane Chong, chief innovation officer of One & All. “Our clients face greater challenges now more than ever in gaining share-of-giving. Not only do we need to be more insightful and data driven, we need to be more creative in developing solutions for clients that go beyond just raising money. Our task is to help organizations achieve their goals, and we take a broad view on how we can do that,” she said.
“For nearly 100 years, our job has been to unlock the potential contained in that simple pronoun, we,” said Hall. “Inspired by our new name and positioning, we are looking for ways to foster that collective mindset – to activate The Power of We, help our clients have more impact and, ultimately, change the world,” he said.
Hall was tapped to run the combined agency in April 2017. Chip Grizzard, CEO of Grizzard, became chairman of the new unit. Grizzard has since left the agency. With headquarters in Pasadena, Calif., the agency has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Toronto.
Sources told The NonProfit Times that the merger was initiated by Hall and Grizzard who then took it to the management of parent company, the DAS Group of Companies (DAS), part of Omnicom Group Inc.
The consolidation of agencies has been a trend for the past few years as profit margins tighten on direct mail and other fundraising methods. For example, Moore DM Group based in Tulsa, Okla., has been buying agencies for the past few years, some of which had strong sector identities but weak balance sheets. Omnicom also has been accumulating smaller agencies seeking a balance of services and economies of scale.
“For nearly a century, Russ Reid and Grizzard have been helping nonprofits connect with their supporters in meaningful and tangible ways,” Hall said last year when the merger was announced.
Grizzard Communications was launched by Claude T. Grizzard, Jr. He worked in a letter shop from 1928 to 1933, taking over the business and founding Grizzard Advertising. The agency dipped its figurative toe in fundraising in 1944 with a campaign for The Salvation Army in Atlanta. He formed fundraising consultancy Grizzard and Haas with Beatrice Haas in 1954 and that became the Grizzard Agency with Claude H. Grizzard, Sr. running Grizzard Advertising. Chip Grizzard is the grandson of Claude T. Grizzard, Jr.
Russ Reid, Grizzard and two other agencies – SCA Direct and Changing Our World – were part of a merger that didn’t go through in 2014 when a deal between parent company Omnicom Group and Publicis Group SA fell through.
