Archrival acquired by Dachis Group

Archrival, a Lincoln-based social youth marketing consultancy, has been acquired by Dachis Group, a Social Business consultancy headquartered in Austin, Texas. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. According to Dachis Group, the acquisition provides their consultancy crucial insight and expertise to an important demographic for Dachis clients – youth – and significantly bolsters…

Archrival, a Lincoln-based social youth marketing consultancy, has been acquired by Dachis Group, a Social Business consultancy headquartered in Austin, Texas. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

According to Dachis Group, the acquisition provides their consultancy crucial insight and expertise to an important demographic for Dachis clients – youth – and significantly bolsters the companyʼs Facebook Preferred Developer capabilities. Regarding the latter, Archrival was one of the Facebook’s first Preferred Developers – chosen for their previous work on Facebook Pages and Facebook Applications.

(Above: Archrival’s new logo, also released today.)

“We are building a global team that is passionate about Social Business; about changing the way business is done by helping big companies connect, communicate, participate and engage with their constituents,” said Jeffrey Dachis, the company’s founder and CEO, in an email interview.

“We found Archrival’s unrivaled focus on the youth market; its social, mobile, and digital marketing capabilities to reach that market; and deep client relationships with clients like foursquare and Red Bull a perfect match for Dachis Group to better serve our global clients.”

When asked, “In short, why did Dachis acquire Archrival?” Dachis replied, “Talent. Charlie and Clint run a great shop and we are thrilled to have them as part of the group.”

Founded by Charles Hull and Clint! Runge in 1997 while the two were juniors in the Unversity of Nebraska–Lincoln‘s architecture school, Archrival began and will remain in Lincoln. “Archrival isn’t going anywhere,” Hull said in an email interview. “Nebraska is our home and where our families are. We have no interest in leaving. That being said, it’s possible the future will lead to new offices in other cities where and when it makes sense.”

Dachis’ acquisition of Archrival expands their international firm to approximately 150 professionals in nine cities and five countries worldwide. This is the Dachis’ second acquisition this month and fifth acquisition this year. Earlier this month they acquired Stuzo, another company on Facebook’s Preferred Developers list. (See past acquisitions at dachisgroup.com/about/news.)

Concerning the structure of Archrival going forward, Hull said:

Archrival is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dachis Group, with Clint and I as the managing partners. Other than that, very little changes about our structure. We will continue to move forward with the same youth focus, same team, same processes, same clients – but with now a vastly expanded service offering that comes with the broader offering of the Dachis Group.

Screenshot of Archrival’s website, archrival.com, taken today, November 17, 2010.

In addition to releasing the news of the acquisition, Archrival unveiled its new brand and website today (above) as well as announced its recent work with foursquare. Hull said:

Archrival is foursquare’s Collegiate Marketing Agency of Record. We are helping them weave foursquare into the fabric of campus life on campuses around the nation. Recently we coordinated the Big Boi Super Swarm at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where we broke the world record for most check-ins at a single location on a college campus. 

To learn more about the acquisition, we caught up with Hull by email:

Silicon Prairie News: When did Dachis first approach Archrival and have you guys been looking for an opportunity such as this?

Charles Hull: The opportunity to join the Dachis Group was first presented to us in early 2010. We were not looking to be acquired, but once we got familiar with their vision to create the world’s leading Social Business Design Consultancy, we realized it closely aligned with our vision for Archrival and the work we were already doing, and joining forces started to make a lot of sense.

(Left, photo from twitter.com/charleshull)

What does this mean for Archival’s workforce – will it shrink or grow?

We’re in go mode! Archrival will be immediately integrated into the Dachis Group’s service offering – which will drive significant growth for Archrival in the near future. We will continue to look for the best and brightest to add to our team in Lincoln, recruiting not only from within Nebraska but nationally as well. In anticipation of this event, we began a space renovation and expansion several months ago that will be completed next week.

What does this mean for the Archrival brand?

Pure awesomeness! Dachis Group is multiple brands that operate as one firm. The Archrival name will remain – which was a big part of our decision to do the deal. We have had a new brand redesign in the works for some time now, and the launch of the new branding coincided perfectly with joining the Dachis Group. This is the next chapter for the Archrival brand and we are fired up!

To see today’s press release, visit dachisgroup.com/about/news.

Here’s more about Dachis Group, from today’s press release:

Through its three main Social Business practice areas, Social Business Strategy, Social Business Engagement, and Social Business Intelligence, Dachis Group helps large organizations become more connected and engaged with their constituents. The company has developed a framework for Social Business Design by addressing organizational transformation across business systems, process, and culture.

Dachis Group was founded in 2008, by Jeffrey Dachis. The company offers services around the globe with offices in nine cities in five countries, employing over 150 professionals. Dachis Group is headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in Lincoln, Nebraska; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; St. Louis, Missouri; London, England; Sydney, Australia; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Madrid, Spain.

Dachis Group operates as: Dachis Group; Archrival, part of the Dachis Group; Headshift, part of the Dachis Group; Stuzo, part of the Dachis Group; XPLANE, part of the Dachis Group and The 2.0 Adoption Council, part of the Dachis Group.

The company’s strategy is backed by a financial commitment from Austin Ventures to build and grow organically and through acquisitions.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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