What Cornett does

Cornett is an independent, female-owned, full-service advertising agency founded in 1984 and headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, with 101-250 employees. The agency provides integrated services across creative campaign development, brand positioning and strategy, media planning and buying (including traditional, CTV, streaming audio, OOH, and social-first), social media management, content production, and experiential marketing for established consumer brands operating in crowded competitive categories.

Cornett's core capability is producing buzzworthy, earned-media-driven creative work — exemplified by campaigns such as A&W's "3/9 lb. Burger" (3.5B earned media readership, 10% sales lift), VisitLEX's "Horse Kicks" (3B impressions, $103M advertising equivalency), and the interstellar "Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington" activation. The agency serves enterprise clients across restaurants, tourism, CPG, entertainment, healthcare, education, and consumer goods, including A&W Restaurants, Conagra Brands, LEGOLAND Resorts North America, VisitLEX, Busch Light, Natural Light, Nissin Foods USA, University of Kentucky, and Tempur-Sealy, with an average client tenure of 10+ years.

The business model is professional services-based B2B engagements priced via quote-based scoping tied to client needs. Cornett secures enterprise clients primarily through competitive RFP processes, creative pitches, and industry relationships, then delivers work through dedicated account teams. Revenue is generated from creative, media, social, and content engagements. The agency is privately held with no disclosed outside investment, and operates a wholly owned subsidiary relationship with the Harris+Cornett PR joint venture launched in 2025.

Name

Cornett

Legal name

Cornett

Website

https://teamcornett.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cornett is an independent, female-owned, full-service advertising agency based in Lexington, Kentucky, serving established enterprise consumer brands with integrated creative campaigns, media planning and buying, social media management, and content production across categories including restaurants, CPG, tourism, and entertainment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lexington

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Marketing Services: Cornett generates revenue through professional services including creative advertising campaigns, media planning and buying, brand strategy, social media management, and content production for client brands.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cornett is a full-service independent advertising agency that develops integrated creative campaigns, brand positioning, and strategy for established consumer brands. It provides media planning and buying across traditional, digital, CTV, streaming audio, OOH, and social channels, alongside social media management, content production through its Content Studio, experiential marketing, and analytics services delivered by dedicated account teams.

Product overview

Cornett is a full-service independent advertising and marketing agency headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. The agency provides integrated creative campaigns, brand positioning and strategy, media planning and buying (traditional, CTV, streaming audio, OOH, social), social media management, content production, and experiential marketing. The portfolio includes campaign work across multiple client brands including A&W Restaurants, VisitLEX, Natural Light, Busch Light, LEGOLAND Resorts, Nissin Foods USA, Conagra Brands, University of Kentucky, Tempur-Sealy, and Hotel Marcel. Key campaigns include the 3/9 lb. Burger campaign, Horse Kicks sneaker line for horses, the interstellar 'Hey, Aliens!' tourism campaign, and various social media activations for consumer brands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Full-Service Advertising Services Integrated creative campaigns, brand positioning and strategy, social media management, and content production delivered as agency-of-record work for established consumer brands across CPG, QSR, beverage, tourism, entertainment, education, and healthcare.
• Strategic Media Execution Media planning, buying, and strategic advisory across traditional media, digital activation, CTV, streaming audio, OOH, and social-first content; includes analytics and in-house media support for clients such as Conagra Brands.
• Brand Strategy and Positioning Brand strategy, positioning, and identity development work, including brand guidelines, visual identity systems, and naming for clients across cannabis, CPG, tourism, and entertainment verticals.
• Content Studio and Analytics In-house Content Studio producing video and social content with millions of views, paired with a media analytics practice providing accountability, transparency, and performance measurement for paid media.
• Social Media Management and Social-First Content Social agency-of-record services for brands such as Natural Light, Busch Light, and Nissin Foods USA, covering platform strategy, content creation, community engagement, and viral campaign production.
• Experiential Marketing and Production Experiential campaigns and in-house film and production capabilities, including award-winning stunts such as Horse Kicks, Hey Aliens! Look at Lexington, and Climate Wake-Up Call.
• Integrated Omnichannel Media Planning and Buying Full omnichannel media planning and buying across CTV, streaming audio, OOH, social, search, and programmatic, led by VP, Creative Media and SVP, Media for brands including Conagra, Busch Light, Microsoft, Visa, Kraft, and McDonald's.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3.5 billion earned media readership for A&W 3/9 lb. Burger campaign
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Conagra BrandsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026Conagra Brands selected Cornett as Strategic Media Execution Partner following a competitive RFP process. Cornett provides advisory and in-house media planning and buying support for Conagra brands including Slim Jim, Banquet, Marie Callender's, and Healthy Choice. This is Cornett's first Chicago client and represents a significant win in the CPG sector.
• hunterblu mediacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCornett partnered with hunterblu media on the Conagra Brands account, with Cornett leading creative and strategic direction while hunterblu provides additional media support.
• Holler Cannabis Co.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornett developed a comprehensive branding platform for Holler Cannabis Co., one of Kentucky's first 10 legally licensed cannabis businesses. Deliverables included brand guidelines, visual identity, package design, website development, and communications plan for parent company Limestone Processing, LLC.
• Harris+CornettminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo Kentucky communication professionals Tom Harris and Kip Cornett launched Harris+Cornett, a new public relations and strategic communications firm focused on precision-driven messaging and impactful storytelling.
• LEGOLAND Resorts North AmericaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornett was named first Creative Agency of Record for LEGOLAND Resorts North America, including parks in Florida, New York, and California. Cornett conducted extensive brand research including visiting parks and watching LEGO content to understand the brand soul before winning the account.
• Quinn PRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornett partnered with Quinn PR to develop and pitch the Climate Wake-Up Call campaign for Hotel Marcel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tombras: Knoxville, TN-based independent agency of comparable size and rapid-growth profile; offers the same integrated creative, media, and content services and counts former Tombras executive Chris Finnegan among Cornett's current leadership.
• RPA: Santa Monica, CA-based independent full-service agency with similar headcount and client portfolio including major QSR, automotive, and consumer brands; competes for the same mid-sized enterprise assignments.
• GSD&M: Austin, TX-based independent agency (founded 1971) with comparable full-service creative, media, and content capabilities and a similar enterprise client roster including major CPG and QSR brands.
• David & Goliath: El Segundo, CA-based independent creative agency of similar size with a comparable enterprise client mix including QSR, automotive, and consumer brands; competes for the same brand-of-record RFPs.
• The Martin Agency: Richmond, VA-based independent full-service agency of comparable size and tenure (founded 1971), with a similar client mix spanning QSR, CPG, and tourism; competes for the same brand-of-record assignments Cornett targets.
• Carmichael Lynch: Minneapolis-based independent agency of comparable scale offering integrated creative, brand strategy, and media services to enterprise CPG, restaurant, and consumer brands.

Emerging players

• Battery: Smaller independent creative agency with a comparable integrated offering and enterprise brand clients; represents the next-tier of independent shops Cornett competes against for mid-sized accounts.

Broad incumbents

• 72andSunny: Larger established independent creative agency with a similar buzzworthy, earned-media-driven campaign model serving enterprise QSR, entertainment, and consumer brand clients.
• Anomaly: Larger established independent agency offering integrated creative, media, and content services to enterprise CPG and consumer brands with a comparable non-holding-company structure.
• Mother: Larger globally-recognized independent creative agency with an analogous independent positioning and award-driven creative model, serving many of the same enterprise brand categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ownitpodcast/posts/?feedView=all
• Xx.com/teamcornett

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 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 Cornett