What Erich & Kallman does

Erich & Kallman is an independent, full-service advertising agency headquartered in San Francisco with a second office in Austin, founded by Eric Kallman (Founder & Chief Creative Officer) and Steven Erich (Founder & President). The agency operates a 11-50 person footprint organized around four interlocking service practices: Creative (campaign development across video, digital, social, audio, print, OOH, experiential, and in-store), Design (brand identity, logo, packaging, brand guidelines, iconographic systems, naming), and Strategy (anchored by a proprietary \"DNA process\" for consumer research, brand architecture, positioning, comms planning, consumer journey, and messaging), supported by the in-house E&K Studio for high-volume content production (editorial, photography, animation) and a dedicated Hispanic Marketing practice. The business model is professional-services agency fees — primarily project-based and retainer engagements initiated via direct outreach to [email protected] — with no public pricing, no third-party distribution channels, and no disclosed external investors. Customers are predominantly enterprise CPG, food & beverage, confectionery, and automotive brands (Hershey, General Mills, Skinny Pop, Disney Bundle, Toyota, iRobot, Meineke, Impossible Foods), with the portfolio spanning tentpole Super Bowl and Olympics campaigns alongside platform-level brand work. The agency's distinguishing asset is the personal track record of its founders — Eric Kallman authored Old Spice \"The Man Your Man Could Smell Like\" and Skittles \"Taste the Rainbow,\" while Steven Erich led Burger King's Whopper Freakout and American Express's Small Business Saturday — which has translated into 4 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year wins (including back-to-back 2023 and 2024) and a 2025 Ad Age A-List Standout recognition, plus multiple Effie Awards and a #2 ranking on Kantar's Most Effective Ads of the Year for Reese's Caramel Big Cup.

Name

Erich & Kallman

Legal name

Erich & Kallman LLC

Website

https://erich-kallman.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Erich & Kallman is an independent, full-service advertising agency in San Francisco and Austin, serving enterprise clients across CPG, food and beverage, confectionery, automotive, and entertainment with creative, strategy, design, and in-house content production.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Activations & Experiential Campaign Design (MPAAAGAA), Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)

Keywords

• Advertising agency
• Creative services
• Brand strategy
• Content production
• Campaign development

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Agency creative and strategy retainers: Erich & Kallman operates as an independent advertising agency generating revenue via client engagements spanning campaign development, video, digital, social, audio, print, OOH, experiential, and in-store creative work, plus strategic planning services.
2. Content production (E&K Studio): Production revenue from in-house E&K Studio handling content production, editorial, photography, and animation work, from Super Bowl spots to high-volume digital content.
3. Brand identity and design: Revenue from design engagements including visual identities, logos, packaging, brand guidelines, iconographic systems, and naming services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Erich & Kallman is an independent, full-service advertising agency that creates, designs, and produces brand campaigns for enterprise clients. The core offering is organized around five interlocking service practices: Creative (campaign development, video, digital, social, audio, print, OOH, experiential, in-store), Design (brand identity, logo, packaging, naming), Strategy (built on a proprietary "DNA process" uncovering brand/audience/category truths), E&K Studio (in-house high-volume content production, editorial, photography, animation), and Hispanic Marketing (culturally-rooted creative).

Product overview

Erich & Kallman is an independent, full-service advertising agency (not a single software product) headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Austin. Its offering is organized as a core agency model of interlocking service practices rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture: Creative, Design and Strategy form the central offering, supported by the in-house E&K Studio for high-volume content production and a dedicated Hispanic Marketing practice for culturally-rooted work. The Creative practice (Campaign Development, Video, Digital, Social, Audio, Print, OOH, Experiential, In-Store) and the Design practice (Brand Identity, Logo Design, Packaging Design, Brand Guidelines, Iconographic Systems, Naming) are powered by E&K's proprietary 'DNA process' Strategy offering (Consumer Research, Brand Architecture, Brand Positioning, Comms Planning, Consumer Journey, Messaging). The agency's portfolio spans brand campaigns for clients including Skinny Pop, Reese's, Impossible Foods, Great Wolf Lodge, Take 5, iRobot, The Disney Bundle, Meineke, BuzzBallz, King's Hawaiian, Taylor Farms, Auto Glass Now!, Empress 1908 Gin, Goodboybob, Gulf States Toyota, Cupcake Wines, Friendly's, Kelly, Realtor.com, Lucid, and many others.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• E&K Studio: Production studio arm of Erich & Kallman described as "Fast, flexible, always on" — delivers work from Super Bowl spots to high-volume content at the speed modern marketing demands. Capabilities include content production, editorial, photography, and animation.

Products and services

• Creative
• Design
• Strategy
• E&K Studio
• Hispanic Marketing

Quantifiable outcome

• Skinny Pop campaign: 11.3% YoY retail sales lift in 4 weeks, 54% interest spike, 169% site traffic increase
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers49 records

Segments8 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

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship talent partnership, core creative partner and major talent partnership.

• Jennifer Anistonflagship talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerCelebrity spokeswoman for the Skinny Pop "Popular For A Reason" campaign. The partnership launched a 30-second commercial during The Oscars and delivered 11.3% YoY retail sales lift, 54% interest spike, and 169% site traffic increase in four weeks.
• Dave Bautistaflagship talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerActor and former professional wrestler who starred as "The Streamer" in the integrated Disney Bundle campaign. The debut ran during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics on national broadcast and cable TV, with social activation on Twitter and TikTok.
• Will Arnettflagship talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerNarrator and on-screen talent for the Reese's Caramel Big Cup "YESSSSSS!!!" Super Bowl LVIII campaign, directed by Harold Einstein. The work became #1 candy innovation of 2024 and #2 on Kantar's Most Effective Ads.
• Harold Einstein (Director)core creative partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirector of the Reese's Caramel Big Cup "YESSSSSS!!!" Super Bowl LVIII campaign for Erich & Kallman, starring Will Arnett.
• Andrew Laurich / ContagiousLA (Director)core creative partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirector of the Auto Glass Now! campaign produced with Erich & Kallman; the work was named Ad Of The Week by Shots and drove +5.3% car count in new campaign markets.
• Jonathan Goldsmithflagship talent partnershipGTM or Marketing Partner"Most Interesting Man in the World" and Davos Brands partner who fronted the Astral Tequila "This Calls For Tequila" launch campaign, which earned two SHOOT Publicity Wire Top 10 most-viewed spots of 2018 and over 1M organic YouTube views.
• Mike Rowemajor talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerTV personality featured in the ZERO Cancer prostate cancer PSA, receiving a real prostate exam on camera from his actual doctor. The work drove nearly 100,000 views in days, dozens of news pieces, and a 5-minute TMZ segment.
• Stephen Currymajor talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerNBA All-Star featured in the Oxigen Water "Recover and Rise" campaign highlighting essential workers and educators during the pandemic.
• Awkwafinamajor talent partnershipGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured talent in the Disney+ Super Bowl "The GOATs are on Disney+" campaign, which aired during the second quarter of the Super Bowl and was widely covered as a top Super Bowl ad.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 72andSunny: Independent, award-winning creative agency of comparable scale, similarly known for culturally-resonant work for major brands (Google, Activision, Samsung) and a portfolio spanning entertainment, CPG, and tech. Closely comparable in business model and target client profile to Erich & Kallman.
• Mother: Independent creative agency founded on a 'small teams, big ideas' philosophy — directly comparable in independent positioning, premium creative reputation, and mid-sized enterprise client base spanning CPG, retail, and entertainment.
• Anomaly: Independent creative agency with a founder-led model and integrated strategy-creative-media offering. Similar in scale and ambition to E&K, with comparable enterprise clients and a parallel focus on effectiveness-driven creative.
• Preacher: Independent creative agency of similar size and cultural profile, producing award-winning campaigns for brands across entertainment, CPG, and tech. Comparable as a founder-driven independent competitor for similar mid-tier enterprise accounts.
• Pereira O'Dell: Independent, San Francisco-based creative agency of similar scale with a comparable mix of enterprise CPG, tech, and entertainment clients. Direct geographic and operating-model peer to E&K.
• Translation: Independent creative and cultural marketing agency with explicit cultural-fluency capabilities (similar to E&K's Hispanic Marketing practice) and a comparable enterprise roster spanning entertainment, tech, and CPG.
• David&Goliath: Independent creative agency of similar scale with a strong CPG and automotive client roster (Kia, Jack in the Box, Energizer). Comparable positioning as a founder-led independent competing against holding-company networks for enterprise accounts.
• Mekanism: Independent creative agency of comparable size focused on brand storytelling and effectiveness for CPG, retail, and entertainment clients (Amazon, Peloton, Jose Cuervo). Direct peer in scale, model, and enterprise client mix.

Broad incumbents

• Wieden+Kennedy: Independent creative powerhouse behind iconic campaigns for Nike, Old Spice, and Coca-Cola — the agency where founder Eric Kallman produced much of his celebrated work. Functions as a broader incumbent benchmark for E&K's category of independent creative shops, though meaningfully larger in scale.
• Droga5: Major independent creative agency (now part of Accenture Song) that competes for the same large enterprise creative accounts as E&K (Hershey's, Toyota, etc.). Functions as a broader incumbent reference point on premium creative positioning and pricing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/erich-&-kallman-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/erich.and.kallman
• Xx.com/erickallman

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Erich & Kallman