What Olson does

Olson is a Minneapolis-based full-service digital agency founded in 1992, described in firmographic data as one of the top five independent full-service digital agencies in North America, with a headcount in the 501-1,000 employee range. The brand and operating capability have been integrated into ICF International's ICF Next division, which positions itself as a "marketing engagement and experience agency" that combines agency creativity with consulting industry expertise. ICF Next delivers three core capability sets: integrated communications, experience strategy and design, and business transformation, with proprietary technology and platform architecture not publicly disclosed beyond marketing-content artifacts (insights blog, case studies, and client-facing dashboards). Underlying technology for client engagements (audience-intelligence dashboards, campaign platforms) is referenced in case-study outputs but not exposed as a packaged product offering.

Customer footprint spans federal health agencies (notably the CDC, including a national diabetes-education data dashboard), other U.S. federal departments, nonprofits and coalitions (Blue Campaign / CCHT for human trafficking prevention), and commercial clients in energy, utilities, transportation, and climate. Industries served include aviation, surface transportation, climate resilience, disaster management, environment, federal IT modernization-adjacent programs, and social programs. Named project work centers on public-health messaging, recruitment marketing, transportation safety, climate communication, and citizen engagement.

The business model is professional services / consulting engagements: ICF Next generates revenue through creative and consultancy engagements sold via direct sales-led motion to enterprise clients in both government and commercial sectors. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution runs through two main channels - direct engagement in the federal sector (leveraging ICF's established contracting vehicles) and direct engagement with commercial clients in energy, utilities, transportation, and climate verticals. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly traded ICF International Inc. (Delaware, USA; NASDAQ: ICFI), Olson/ICF Next operates inside a broader partnership ecosystem that spans cloud, cybersecurity, AI, data analytics, and program implementation partners.

Name

Olson

Legal name

ICF International Inc.

Website

https://olson.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Olson is a Minneapolis-based full-service digital agency, founded 1992, now operating as ICF Next, the integrated marketing engagement and experience agency inside ICF International, serving U.S. federal agencies, nonprofits, and commercial clients in health, energy, transportation, and climate verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Marketing and Engagement Services: ICF Next provides integrated communications, experience strategy and design, and business transformation services to government and commercial clients. Revenue is generated through consulting and professional service engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Olson is an independent, full-service digital agency that delivers integrated marketing communications, experience strategy and design, and business transformation services. The firm combines agency creativity with industry-specific consulting expertise to build audience engagement for federal, public sector, and commercial clients across federal health, energy, transportation, climate, and other regulated and public-facing sectors.

Product overview

ICF Next is an integrated marketing engagement and experience agency that combines the creativity of an agency with the industry expertise of a consultancy. The company's global team of mission-driven strategists, marketers, technologists, communicators, and data scientists help clients build engagement capabilities across three core service areas: integrated communications, experience strategy and design (including customer experience strategy and design), and business transformation services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Integrated Communications End-to-end integrated marketing communications services combining agency creativity with industry-specific expertise, targeted at government and commercial clients to build audience engagement across digital and traditional channels.
• Experience Strategy and Design Customer and audience experience strategy and design services focused on building Next-level engagement for government and commercial clients across channels and sectors.
• Business Transformation Business transformation services helping clients align marketing, engagement, and organizational capabilities to mission and commercial objectives across regulated and public-facing sectors.
• PulsePoint Group (acquired) Through its 2013 acquisition of PulsePoint Group, Olson extended its digital agency capabilities; the PulsePoint unit is presented as an acquired entity rather than a separately launched product.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ICF Partnership EcosystemcoreOthersICF maintains a broader partnership ecosystem including technology partners, implementation partners, and channel partners. ICF Next operates as part of this ecosystem, with access to partnerships for cloud, cybersecurity, AI, data analytics, and program implementation services.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Anomaly: Independent creative and strategy agency that built its brand as a top-tier independent player post-consolidation; comparable peer for Olson's 'top 5 independent' competitive set.
• ICF Next: The marketing engagement and experience agency division of ICF International, into which Olson's operations were integrated. Effectively the post-acquisition operating peer for the Olson entity.
• Droga5: Independent creative-led agency with digital and strategy depth; comparable as a top-tier independent full-service agency at the same tier as Olson prior to its acquisition.
• R/GA: Independent, full-service digital and experience agency historically positioned alongside Olson as a top North American digital shop; closest pure-play peer in capabilities and agency model.

Broad incumbents

• Accenture Song: Accenture's creative and experience agency combining marketing services with consulting scale; directly analogous to Olson's hybrid agency-plus-consultancy positioning for large enterprise and public-sector clients.
• Ogilvy: Global full-service creative and marketing agency within WPP; competes for integrated communications, brand, and public-sector-adjacent engagements at the same scale as Olson.
• Publicis Sapient: Digital transformation and marketing services arm of Publicis Groupe; competes in experience strategy, design, and business-transformation engagements similar to Olson's service areas.
• Booz Allen Hamilton: Federal consulting and digital services firm with a strong public-sector creative and communications practice; the closest large incumbent competing for federal health and agency marketing contracts.
• Deloitte Digital: The digital agency arm of Deloitte, pairing consulting depth with creative and experience-design execution; competes directly for integrated communications and experience-strategy engagements with federal and regulated clients.

Others

• Maxar Intelligence: Adjacent federal-services firm working with U.S. government clients; included as ecosystem peer for the federal-health and federal-IT customer ecosystem rather than direct creative-services competition.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OLSONagency
• Facebookfacebook.com/OLSONagency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/olson
• Instagraminstagram.com/thisisicf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Olson