PPA Agency

What PPA Agency does

PPA Agency, LLC is a privately held, woman-owned full-service marketing and creative agency founded in 1984 and headquartered in Pickerington, Ohio. The firm provides advertising, branding, digital marketing, graphic design, video production, photography, and web development services on a project-based model with upfront quotes and no required retainers. PPA serves three primary customer segments: marketing professionals at large enterprises seeking overflow creative execution, business owners needing full-stack marketing support, and in-house creative departments outsourcing tedious or deadline-driven projects. Notable clients include Cardinal Health (17+ year relationship), Red Roof Inn (14+ year relationship covering 700+ properties across four brands), Abbott, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Upstart, Covetrus, Performance Health, and Horizon Insurance Services, alongside smaller businesses.

The firm's core technology is BrandGPO, a proprietary online brand-asset management platform developed internally after PPA found third-party tools inadequate. BrandGPO functions as a centralized branded storefront for franchise networks, enabling franchisees and corporate users to order brand-compliant marketing, signage, and operational materials with dynamic content and location-specific customizations. Red Roof's instance supports 900+ franchise users, 300+ corporate users, and 1,000+ orders annually. The firm uses Adobe Suite for design and is investing in two on-site commercial photography studios scheduled for late-2025 completion. Its distinctive operating model eliminates traditional account management layers, routing client communication directly to creative specialists.

PPA generates revenue through project-based professional services fees and managed-services contracts tied to BrandGPO. Pricing is significantly below full-service agency benchmarks, with catalog design services priced at $200-$250 per page and cost-per-page decreasing at higher volumes. Distribution is primarily direct sales with no-fee consultations and self-service ordering through the BrandGPO platform. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional investors; ownership transferred from founder Perry Passen to Kara Bottoms in 2021, and the firm earned WBENC certification in 2025.

Name

PPA Agency

Legal name

PPA Agency, LLC

Website

https://ppaagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PPA Agency is a woman-owned, full-service creative agency founded in 1984 that provides project-based branding, design, photography, video, web, and digital marketing services to enterprise marketing teams, business owners, and in-house creative departments, anchored by its proprietary BrandGPO franchise brand-asset platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Canal Winchester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Project-based Creative Services: Billed per project with upfront quotes provided. No long-term retainers required. Services include design, copywriting, photography, print coordination, and web development. Pricing typically significantly less than full-service agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PPA Agency is a full-service creative and marketing agency offering advertising, branding, digital marketing, graphic design, video, websites, and catalog design services to business clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 20 companies. The agency operates on a project-based pricing model with upfront quotes and no required long-term retainers, allowing direct communication between clients and creative specialists without traditional account management layers. It also operates BrandGPO, a proprietary online platform for centralized brand asset management and ordering used by multi-location franchise networks.

Product overview

PPA Agency is a full-service marketing and creative agency that operates primarily as a service-based business rather than a SaaS platform. The company's core product is BrandGPO, a centralized online brand asset management platform that enables organizations to manage and order branded marketing materials, signage, and operational support through custom-branded storefronts. BrandGPO serves multi-location franchise networks with features including user permissions, location-specific customizations, and inventory management. The agency also offers specialized BrandGPO configurations for the hospitality sector. Supporting BrandGPO and the broader service portfolio are design and production services (catalogs, collateral, presentations, sales kits, direct mail), branding development, in-house photography and video production, digital marketing (social media, content creation, SEO), web development (websites, eCommerce, custom solutions), and dimensional design (tradeshow materials, ABM mailers). The agency serves three primary segments: marketing professionals seeking creative outsourcing, business owners needing full marketing support, and creative departments requiring overflow capacity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BrandGPO: A branded online store solution for managing marketing and operational support materials. Serves multi-location organizations including hospitality brands, healthcare systems, and franchises with centralized ordering systems.

Products and services

• BrandGPO Centralized online brand asset management platform that enables organizations to create branded storefronts for marketing materials, signage, and operational support items, with multi-location franchise network features including user permissions, customizations, and inventory management.
• BrandGPO for Hospitality Specialized version of BrandGPO tailored for hotel and hospitality brands, enabling franchisees and corporate users to order on-brand marketing materials, signage, and operational support on demand across multi-property networks.
• Catalog Design Services
• Design and Production
• Branding
• Photography and Video
• Digital Marketing
• Web Development
• Dimensional Design
• Creative Outsourcing for Creative Departments
• Marketing Solutions for Business Owners
• Marketing Solutions for Marketing Professionals

Quantifiable outcome

• 49,000+ projects completed since 1984
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) - PickeringtonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2025PPA Agency's new headquarters office space is located in one of Pickerington's Community Reinvestment Areas (CRA), reflecting the company's commitment to community investment and local economic revitalization in their hometown.
• Red RoofcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Since 2010, PPA has managed Red Roof's online brand catalog supporting 700+ properties across four brands. Developed custom BrandGPO platform when existing solutions proved inadequate. Serves 900+ franchise users with 1,000+ annual orders.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Luckie & Company: Birmingham, AL-based independent marketing and advertising agency of comparable mid-market size. Comparable to PPA as a mid-size independent agency serving enterprise clients with creative, media, digital, and analytics capabilities.
• HLK: St. Louis-based full-service creative, media, and digital agency of comparable mid-market size. Comparable to PPA as a mid-size independent agency offering integrated branding, content, and digital services to enterprise B2B and consumer clients.
• Marcus Thomas LLC: Cleveland, OH-based independent full-service advertising and marketing agency. Comparable to PPA as another Ohio-based independent agency serving mid-market and enterprise clients across branding, digital, and media — directly competing for the same regional enterprise RFPs.
• Innis Maggiore: Canton, OH-based full-service advertising and branding agency. Closely comparable as an Ohio-headquartered independent agency offering similar advertising, branding, digital, and creative production services to mid-market and enterprise clients.
• Fahlgren Mortine: Columbus, OH-based full-service advertising and integrated marketing agency of similar mid-market size. Directly comparable as a regional full-service creative agency competing for the same Ohio/Midwest enterprise clients as PPA, with overlapping capabilities in branding, content, and digital.
• Bailey Lauerman: Omaha, NE-based independent full-service advertising and marketing agency. Comparable as a similarly sized Midwestern independent agency offering branding, creative, digital, and content services to enterprise clients.
• The Tombras Group: Knoxville, TN-based independent full-service advertising agency. Comparable as a similarly sized independent full-service agency offering creative, digital, media, and production services to enterprise clients — directly competing for independent-agency RFPs.
• The Richards Group: Dallas, TX-based independent full-service advertising agency of similar boutique-mid scale. Comparable as an independent full-service creative agency serving enterprise clients with branding, digital, and content production capabilities — directly competing in the independent-agency category.
• Brownstein Group: Philadelphia-based independent advertising, PR, and digital marketing agency. Comparable as a similarly scaled independent full-service agency offering creative, branding, digital, and content services to enterprise clients.
• Godfrey Dadich Partners (GDP): San Francisco-based independent creative, design, and brand agency. Comparable to PPA as a mid-size independent agency focused on brand storytelling, design, and content for enterprise clients — directly competing in the boutique-creative category.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ppaagency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ppaagency

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PPA Agency