Augusta marketing agency Alison South has become Osla Agency as of the beginning of this month.
The company, which has offices in Augusta, Aiken and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced its rebranding on March 1, stressing that it will continue to offer its same services, which range from strategy, design and branding to digital and video production.
The relaunch does entail some new developments in what will be available to clients, however, such as the ability to build an app. Canadian marketing firm Xiingo.com acquired the CSRA agency last year, expanding Alison South’s digital capabilities.
Most of the changes the rebranding represents will be approaches to structure and project management, said Client Experience Officer David Bash.
“[We] want to be able to help take a business holistically to the next level, and so the support systems and the other offerings that we can provide through those other pieces are super valuable to us being able to grow,” Bash said. “But at the end of the day, the agency itself won’t change much.”
The new name, partly inspired by letters in the company’s original name, is also a Scottish word meaning “one who came from a steep place,” and comes with a new color palette of green and black.
“I think when we looked at it… we were thinking about where we wanted to be, and actually reflect visually with our brand identity,” said Jeremy Richie, chief marketing officer.
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Cultivating a unique new identity is a salient theme in the agency’s overhaul, with Bash underscoring that the company had before been defined by “one or two people,” and that the rebranding echoes, among other things, the company’s priorities going forward.
Those include, Bash says, investing in teams and systems and, particularly, scalability and growth.
“It seems like when you make that many internal changes, you kind of want the world to see the results of that reflected in how you present yourself,” Bash said, noting that Oslo is not a word the average person would recognize. “And what that gives us an opportunity to do is define that for ourselves.”
The new brand coincides with the near-conclusion of trade secrets litigation filed by Xiingo.com.
Xiingo accused two former Alison South CEOs and a former contractor of stealing client information after they signed non-compete agreements, and of misrepresenting Alison South’s financial position during the sale.
Xiingo contended the group, which denied most of the claims, was diverting the stolen clients to a new firm, Next Marketing Group.
In a Thursday, Feb. 29 status report filed in U.S. District Court, the parties said the plaintiffs and defendants Michael Thomas, Ashley Thomas, Wesley Roberts and Next Marketing Group had reached an out-of-court settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed. Settlement negotiations with defendant Kathleen Sanders were still ongoing.
Cynthia South, communications director and co-founder of Alison South, said Xiingo.com has aimed at developing a new brand since it purchased the company.
“It’s been in the making for a while and we’re excited about it. It’s a great opportunity,” she said, echoing Bash’s emphasis on investing in its workforce. “We work together as a team with the clients, instead of one person telling a client what to do.”
Staff writer Susan McCord contributed to this report.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
