'The US market is ready for a different kind of agency': Northern Ireland marketing firm acquired by Ireland’s largest independent digital agency for undisclosed sum
Cork’s Granite announces agreed acquisition of Northern Ireland-founded performance marketing specialist Creative Media, significantly expanding its North American footprint
Ireland’s largest independent digital agency, Granite, has agreed to acquire Creative Media, a Northern Ireland-founded performance marketing specialist with a strong client base across the US and Canada.
Headquartered in Cork, Granite said the acquisition comes alongside a series of senior appointments as it accelerates its expansion in North America.
The deal will support the company’s ambition to reach $40 million in revenue by 2027, with North America expected to generate $20 million – half of total revenues.
The acquisition strengthens Granite’s US growth strategy following a 400% year-on-year increase in organic North American revenue over the past 12 months. The expansion is backed by $10 million in growth capital from BGF, one of the most active growth capital investors in Ireland and the UK.
Creative Media has built a significant North American client base over the past 25 years. Its founder, Marcus Isherwood, will join Granite as Chief Revenue Officer, working alongside the company’s US-based chief commercial officer, Rob Carpenter.
The move is expected to strengthen Granite’s position as an independent alternative to major holding-company agencies for US businesses seeking digital transformation, performance marketing and AI-powered solutions.
Isherwood founded Creative Media in Northern Ireland in May 2000, growing it into a team of more than 40 specialists serving over 30 clients across the US and Canada.
Marcus Isherwood, CEO of Creative Media, said: "I've spent 25 years building client relationships in North America with a simple philosophy: every dollar spent on marketing has to deliver a measurable return.
"That's exactly how Granite operates, but at enterprise scale and with technical depth I haven't seen in an independent agency. Joining forces with this team gives our clients something genuinely new in the market."
The deal will grow Granite's workforce to over 200 specialists across strategy, engineering, design, data and marketing. Working directly with clients, practice leads spend over 70% of their time on client deliverables, not pitches. This model has delivered a Net Promoter Score of 71 against an industry average of 51, an average client tenure of nine years, and 87% of business from repeat customers and referrals.
The company serves major enterprise clients including Intel, Pepsi, Sysco, Iron Mountain, Concentrix, Aer Lingus, Tesco and Dalata Hotel Group. Granite was shortlisted for Best Large Agency of the Year at the 2025 US Agency Awards.
This will be the ninth acquisition Granite has made since 2020, and its most significant step into North America. Granite's ambitions are further strengthened by the recent appointment of Joy Marcus as non-executive chair, bringing more than two decades of leadership experience across digital media, technology and venture capital. She has held executive roles at major organisations including Condé Nast, Time Warner and MTV Networks.
Rob Carpenter, Global chief commercial officer, Granite, explained: "The US market is ready for a different kind of agency. Enterprise clients are tired of paying holding company rates for junior teams, fragmented delivery and dashboards nobody reads. We're building something that doesn't exist yet in this market: an independent agency with genuine enterprise capability, senior talent on every account and full accountability for outcomes. The agreed acquisition of Creative Media, the leadership appointments and Joy joining our board are not incremental moves."
Conor Buckley, CEO of Granite and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 finalist, added: "North America has always been central to our growth strategy. The Creative Media agreed acquisition, Marcus's appointment, and the team we're building in the US are all part of a deliberate plan to bring Granite's model to the world’s largest digital market.
"We've proven this works in Europe and the Middle East, and we’re actively pursuing acquisitions in North America to deepen our capabilities and accelerate our growth."