Pavone Marketing Group (PMG), a Pennsylvania-based, independent marketing and research holding company, has acquired Vigor, an Atlanta-based branding and marketing agency that specializes in the restaurant, beverage and hospitality industries. The acquisition will extend the CPG food and beverage marketing specialization of PMG’s quench.
Vigor has been developing restaurants and other brands for more than 17 years through brand strategy, concept development, and identity design to drive innovation, growth and loyalty. Its clients have included Zaxby's, Steak ‘n Shake, Marriott International, IHG, Évian, Pfaltzgraff, PBS, Speed Network, Hallmark Channel, Perfetti Van Melle, Hershey's, Coca-Cola and more.
Vigor will retain its name, website, its staff of 10 employees and its location in Atlanta’s West Midtown.
“PMG is in the business of building brands, and specific to food and beverage, we built our quench agency as a dedicated specialist. Adding Vigor to our roster reflects one more layer to our expertise within this space,” said Michael Pavone, President and CEO of Pavone Marketing Group. “Bolstering our skills by offering a dedicated restaurant-marketing service line is a natural fit, especially with all that’s going on right now in the world of restaurants.”
Joseph Szala, principal of Vigor, added, “Vigor has launched, repositioned, revitalized and crafted restaurant brands for nearly 20 years. We master this space because we love this space. The PMG acquisition is the perfect means to take our success to the next level. With their passion of storytelling, dedication to the food space with their quench agency, and knowledge of data and analytics, we are in a great position moving forward.”
The move marks the fifth acquisition in the past three years for PMG, right on the heels of last month’s acquisition of east|west Marketing Group. The news also caps a year of explosive growth for PMG and its agencies, with PMG’s Pavone recently being named one of the nation’s 75 Fastest Growing Agencies by Adweek.
In its 28 years, Pavone Marketing Group has grown to include six businesses, each possessing distinct expertise. That group includes PMG’s trio of industry-focused agencies, including Pavone (health care, financial services, retail and entertainment clients), quench (food and beverage marketing) and Varsity (mature market and retirement living). PMG also includes Wild Fig (data, science and analytics), Leap (research and innovation) and Market Street Trust Design Co. (packaging, logos, branding and web design).