Though it may not seem like an integral part of society, advertising campaigns often become a major part of popular culture. Whether it's Rosie the Riveter, Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan, or just about any campaign Coca-Cola creates, advertising constantly etches itself into our media and conversations.
Beyond leaving a major mark in pop culture, advertisements are necessary in today’s world to drown out the imitators and stand out from the crowd. Luckily, San Diego is home to some of the most innovative and thoughtful advertising agencies in the country. They specialize in both traditional and digital forms of advertising that help to reach millions of customers across almost every platform imaginable. Check out 15 prominent San Diego advertising agencies you should know.
Top San Diego Advertising Agencies To Know
- Vitro
- L7 Creative
- Digitopia
- Mindgruve
- Red Door Interactive
- Mad Group
Founded: 2004
What they do: Tinuiti helps companies create audience-centric campaigns across Google, Facebook and Amazon. The agency specializes in everything from creating cross-channel campaigns to utilizing paid search and paid social to boost a company’s online presence. Tinuiti has managed more than $1.5 billion in media ads to date.
Who they work with: Jet.com, Blink, MVMT, Advil, Etsy, Nestle, Bombas and Tommy Bahama.
Founded: 1993
What they do: Vitro is a creative advertising agency helping clients with ad strategy and production. Vitro’s full suite of ad campaign development options including brand design, media buying and 3D animation, takes an idea and turns it into an approachable reality. The agency has partnered with some of the largest companies in the world to help them get their word out in fresh and creative ways across a multitude of digital media outlets.
Who they work with: Adidas, Petco, Asics, UC San Diego, Caribou Coffee, IHOP and Marvel.
Founded: 2010
What they do: Zeeto’s consumer information platform helps companies maximize their advertising budgets. The survey-like tool gets answers to questions that help drive advertising budgets. A Zeeto user will simply type in questions they would like to ask consumers, and the platform will tap into its vast network of online partners. Companies using Zeeto’s platform can then see consumer trends, and effectively allocate advertising budgets to consumers on their favorite platforms.
Who they work with: PayPal, Domino’s, MasterCard, Kellogg’s, Groupon and Zulily.
Founded: 2013
What they do: Sightly’s platform helps advertisers reach wider audiences and measure the effectiveness of video ads. The platform helps companies with ad purchasing, personalization, localization and gathering performance analytics on YouTube. With Sightly, advertisers are able to completely customize their video ad experiences to bring an informative and exciting experience to their customers.
Who they work with: Sightly works with hundreds of companies across food, finance, insurance, retail, healthcare and consumer packaged goods.
Founded: 2002
What they do: Jacob Tyler is a creative advertising and marketing agency that advises on everything from consumer communication to user experience. The agency specializes in helping clients reach more customers and build deeper consumer relationships. Jacob Tyler achieves this by crafting advertising campaigns that focus on updating branding, content and overall user experience.
Who they work with: YMCA, San Diego International Airport, Dexcom and CarnoSyn.
Founded: 2001
What they do: L7 Creative is a digital agency that helps drive more customers through a proprietary method. The Carlsbad-based company helps companies build engaging digital campaigns through their four-step creative process. The process starts with market and consumer research, then heads to the “matter” stage, where L7 crafts compelling stories and creates the tangible assets for the campaign. The agency then will launch the campaign and measure the impact it’s made.
Who they work with: Vizio, iHome, Torrey Pines Scientific, True North and Harman.
Founded: 2004
What they do: Digitopia is a strategic digital agency that specializes in marketing and advertising. The Carlsbad-based company crafts individualized marketing and branding plans for each client that include reaching wider audiences through search, display and video advertising. Each advertising method is carefully considered by Digitopia’s team as a means to drive the highest quality consumer traffic to a client’s site.
Who they work with: Toshiba, Empyr, First Foundation, Integral Communities and Pursell Farms.
Founded: 2012
What they do: SOCi allows advertising and marketing teams to manage search, ads and social media all from a single platform. SOCi’s localized marketing tools help users to manage hundreds of social media ads, posts, pieces of content, and pages from a simple-to-use platform that lets users engage with followers and collect relevant metrics on their social campaigns.
Who they work with: SportClips, Liberty Tax, Ace Hardware, JLB Residential and Brain Balance Achievement Centers.
Founded: 2001
What they do: Mindgruve is a fully-integrated creative agency that specializes in advertising, marketing and technology implementation. The company has a media planning and buying team that guides clients through the process and offers services like ad spend strategizing and paid search. Mindgruve also partners with top marketing automation platforms like Marketo and Salesforce Pardot, in order to implement the tools that clients need to get their message out there across virtually any platform.
Who they work with: House of Blues, Skullcandy, Sony Playstation, San Diego Zoo, Budweiser, PGA Tour and eBay.
Founded: 2002
What they do: Red Door Interactive is a marketing and creative advertising firm that helps companies with telling engaging stories through ad campaigns. The agency has experience in developing campaigns that range from specific products all the way to overarching brand campaigns. Red Door’s advertising sector will help take an idea and turn it into an actionable campaign with visuals and copy.
Who they work with: Asics, Bosch, drybar, GoGo, Qualtrics, Titleist and Turbotax.
Founded: 2008
What they do: Obu Interactive is a digital ad and marketing agency designed specifically for the legal industry. Obu has ad plans that fit any need, whether a law firm needs to get their word out about their services or they need to reach a broader audience to find clients in class action lawsuits. Obu creates customized ad campaigns across Google and Facebook that help to reach the right client at the right time.
Who they work with: Obu Interactive works with lawyers and law firms all over the country.
Founded: 2008
What they do: Rosemont Media is an ad agency for the dental and healthcare industries. The one-stop-shop helps to widen their client’s audience through a multitude of practices that include media buying, SEO optimization and video ad creation. Rosemont Media has created hundreds of ad campaigns for doctors, dentists and medical specialty organizations throughout the U.S.
Who they work with: SVIA Med Spa, Aloha Laser Aesthetics, Smile by Design and Prischmann Facial Plastic Surgery.
Founded: 2001
What they do: The Ad Group employs a mix of traditional and digital media tools to effectively target a client’s audience. The company looks deeply into consumer lifestyles, demographics and even psychographics to inform an ad campaign that will convert the most audience members into customers. Since its inception in 2001, The Ad Group has created over 2,000 ad campaigns that range from radio to social media.
Who they work with: JDRF, San Diego Union-Tribune, Stuart Benjamin and Co., and Mission Brewery.
Founded: 2010
What they do: The Mad Group is a creative branding and digital advertising agency focused on increasing sales leads for customers. In addition to crafting innovative branding strategies for clients, the Mad Group also helps with social media ad campaign creation. The agency will help craft visually appealing social media posts, advise on content and provide copy in order to convert social media followers to customers.
Who they work with: TalentSpot, Coolpad, UC San Diego, Intercontinental Coffee Trade and Flojos.
Founded: 2015
What they do: Sky Tide Digital is an advertising agency for local businesses looking to expand their customer base. Want to advertise across the Internet, but don’t know where or how to begin? The agency focuses on Facebook Ads, Google Adwords and SEM campaigns that are all customized to show off products or whole brands to thoroughly-researched audiences.
Who they work with: Sky Tide Digital has worked with more than 500 small businesses in the San Diego area across finance, hotels, logistics, food and more.
