First Protocol

Experiential Marketing Servicesfirstprotocol.com

First Protocol (FIRST) is a London-headquartered global brand experience agency founded in 1996, providing end-to-end experiential marketing services including event conceptualization, production, and execution for enterprise clients across 16 cities and 4 continents.

Company typePrivate
Founded1996
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Headcount101–250
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What First Protocol does

First Protocol (doing business as FIRST) is a privately held international experiential marketing and brand experience agency founded in 1996 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company designs, produces, and executes large-scale brand events, conferences, investor summits, and product launch roadshows for global enterprise clients across multiple geographies. It operates from listed offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, and Singapore, while claiming operational presence in 16 cities, 9 countries, and 4 continents, supported by 850+ expert employees globally.

FIRST delivers its offering through two service models: a full-service agency partnership handling end-to-end event conceptualization, planning, production, and execution, and an embedded specialist talent model that places agency personnel directly into client teams. The agency's enterprise client base includes Indeed (FutureWorks 2024 and 2025), Sibos Amsterdam (the SWIFT financial services conference), Shopify (Unite Roadshow), and Carlyle (Global Investor Conference 2022), with revenue generated on a professional services basis through bespoke projects and retainers. No proprietary technology platform, AI/ML capability, or productized SaaS offering is described in available source material — the business is structured around human-delivered creative services rather than a software platform.

First Protocol firmographics

Firmographics

Name: First Protocol
Legal name: FIRST
Website: https://firstprotocol.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1996
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 101–250 employees
Short description: First Protocol (FIRST) is a London-headquartered global brand experience agency founded in 1996, providing end-to-end experiential marketing services including event conceptualization, production, and execution for enterprise clients across 16 cities and 4 continents.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

First Protocol industry classification

Industry

Product category: Experiential Marketing Services
NAICS: Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)
SIC: Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
akta.pro primary industry: Conferences & Conventions Operations Services (Registration, AV, Logistics) (MPAGAGAM)

Keywords

Experiential marketing services
Brand experience events
Event management agency
Corporate conference production
Global event marketing

Where First Protocol is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: London
HQ country: United Kingdom
HQ region: Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

First Protocol business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Experiential Marketing Services: FIRST generates revenue by providing full-service brand experience and experiential marketing agency services to enterprise clients, including event planning, production, and execution of global brand experiences, conferences, and roadshows.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

First Protocol product offering

Product offering

Core offering

First Protocol (operating as FIRST) is a global brand experience agency that plans, produces, and executes large-scale experiential marketing events and brand experiences for enterprise clients. Its work spans conferences, investor summits, product launch roadshows, and connected brand experiences delivered across multiple geographies, either as a full-service agency partner or through embedding specialist talent into client teams. The agency's flagship offering, FIRST Solutions, consolidates its insight, intelligence, and innovation capabilities into a single integrated service portfolio.

Product overview

First Protocol (FIRST) is a Global Brand Experience Agency offering experiential marketing services. The company provides a unified portfolio centered on FIRST Solutions, which encompasses creative event production, brand experience design, and strategic marketing services. The agency operates as a single integrated offering rather than a modular platform, delivering end-to-end experiential marketing solutions from concept through execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

FIRST Solutions

Companies that use First Protocol

Customer profile

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

First Protocol technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

First Protocol partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

First Protocol competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Freeman: Large-scale live events and brand experience company with deep enterprise event and conference execution capabilities. Comparable on the events production side, though broader and more infrastructure-heavy than FIRST.
Ogilvy Experience: WPP-owned brand experience and experiential capability within Ogilvy's broader advertising portfolio. Overlaps with FIRST on enterprise brand experience delivery but as part of a much larger agency network.

Direct peers

Sparks: Experiential marketing agency delivering brand experiences, conferences, and pop-up activations for global brands. Comparable in offering mix and enterprise target market to FIRST.
George P. Johnson Experience Marketing: Experience marketing agency specializing in conferences, product launches, and brand activations for global enterprise clients — directly overlapping with FIRST's product launch roadshow and investor conference work.
Opus Agency: Events-led agency specializing in user conferences, product launches, and customer event programs for technology and enterprise brands — directly comparable to FIRST's Shopify Unite and Indeed FutureWorks work.
MKG: Independent experiential marketing and brand experience agency serving global enterprise clients, with a comparable blend of strategy, creative, and event production capabilities.
Amplify: Independent brand experience agency offering experiential marketing, events, and creative services to global brands; comparable in target market and integrated agency model to FIRST.
Jack Morton Worldwide: Global brand experience agency delivering experiential marketing, events, and activations for enterprise brands. Closely comparable to FIRST in service scope (full-service agency + embedded talent) and global delivery footprint.
Momentum Worldwide: IPG-owned global experiential agency serving enterprise brands with brand experience, events, and shopper marketing — comparable client base, scale, and end-to-end delivery model to FIRST.

Emerging players

Giant Spoon: Independent, mid-sized full-service agency blending strategy, media, creative, and experiential work for enterprise brands — comparable in integrated agency offering but at a smaller scale and with a stronger media bias than FIRST.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

First Protocol financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

First Protocol leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

First Protocol funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

First Protocol M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about First Protocol

What does First Protocol do?

Is First Protocol a public or private company?

First Protocol is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.

When was First Protocol founded?

First Protocol was founded in 1996. It employs 101 to 250 people.

Where is First Protocol based?

First Protocol is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.

How does First Protocol make money?

One revenue line is on record: experiential Marketing Services.

Who are First Protocol's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Freeman and Ogilvy Experience. Direct peers are Sparks, George P. Johnson Experience Marketing, Opus Agency, MKG, Amplify, Jack Morton Worldwide and Momentum Worldwide. Giant Spoon is listed as an emerging player.

Does First Protocol have an API?

No public API is recorded for First Protocol.

What industry is First Protocol in?

First Protocol's product category is Experiential Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAGAM, Conferences & Conventions Operations Services (Registration, AV, Logistics). Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7311.