Politics
Reuters
Mike Bloomberg.
- Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign and his secretive data firm, Hawkfish, have also been hiring at a rapid pace to win the Democratic Party nomination and beat Donald Trump.
- The list of agencies working for Bloomberg now includes Horizon Media, Dentsu, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and Oberland.
- Hawkfish and Bloomberg have hired former tech executives at Facebook, Google, Snapchat, and Viacom.
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Mike Bloomberg has spent over $400 million on advertising since joining the presidential race last November - and a big share of that has gone toward his primary adtech and data provider, Hawkfish.
Read more about the secretive firm here: Bloomberg has already spent $400 million on political advertising. Inside the secretive agency that just popped up to help manage all that money, which is run by Facebook's former CMO
Business Insider has learned there are other agencies and experts helping the digital campaign. Here's everything we know:
- Business Insider first reported that ad agency Horizon Media is handling some of the Bloomberg campaign's programmatic ad buys.
- Jacki Kelley, CEO of the Americas at ad holding company Dentsu Aegis Network and formerly COO of Bloomberg Media, has been using her New York media connections to help with recruiting, according to an executive close to the campaign.
- Ad industry vet Jeff Goodby is an advisor to Bloomberg, as previously reported. His agency, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, has also created ads for the campaign, including a Super Bowl ad that was rejected after being deemed too safe.
- Bloomberg recently hired New York agency Oberland to increase support among black voters. Some black ad employees told Business Insider they declined invitations to work on the campaign, citing Bloomberg's stop and frisk law enforcement policy.
Hawkfish and Bloomberg also continue to hire top tech executives, including several developers and engineers from Briggs's alma mater, Facebook.
- Former Viacom advertising executive Bryson Gordon joined Hawkfish in early February to help lead digital operations, two Hawkfish employees said.
- Google veterans with key roles in the campaign include former project manager Josh Mendelsohn, who oversaw several major projects for the search giant before launching tech lobbying group Engine, and creative director Jonathan Jarvis, who helped develop Google Assistant and the Google Logo.
- Hawkfish has hired former Snapchat employees, most prominently former head of fashion and beauty Selby Drummond, an ex-Vogue editor who now leads the agency's digital organizing.
Sources said many Bloomberg and Hawkfish employees took pay cuts, even as the candidate reportedly pays better than other presidential candidates.
A tech CEO, who is known to Business Insider but spoke on condition of anonymity due to his closeness to the campaign, described a slightly chaotic atmosphere at Hawkfish headquarters, saying his contacts are often still in the office at 10 or 11 on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Another executive who has ties to Hawkfish executives said the campaign has come together with impressive speed, but wondered what would happen to the agency long-term.
"Can they move this forward to help the Democrats?" he asked. "Will they keep the talent?"