Wicked+

What Wicked+ does

Wicked+ (legal entity: Wicked Group LLC) is a strategy-led creative agency headquartered in Hermosa Beach, California, founded in 1999 by brothers Brian and Colin Cooley. The firm serves luxury hospitality, resort, and residential real estate brands with integrated services spanning brand development, public relations, content marketing, creative production, visual imagery, and website design. The agency operates with approximately 20 in-house staff supplemented by a curated network of freelance specialists, reflecting a boutique in-house-plus-network operating model optimized for high-touch, project-driven engagements rather than volume production.

Wicked+'s client roster includes established luxury hospitality and real estate brands such as Ritz-Carlton, Hotel Del Coronado, Terranea, Montage Residences, Starwood Capital, and Victory Ranch, alongside international resort developments in Dominica (Secret Bay), Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago. The firm has extended into adjacent premium consumer categories through engagements with fashion brands Wolf & Shepherd and Walter Sky, indicating modest vertical diversification beyond its hospitality and residential core. Notable client outcomes referenced include substantial lifts in luxury real-estate lot sales (e.g., Victory Ranch sales reported in the $7M to $62M range), positioning the firm on commercial impact metrics common to luxury brand work.

The agency runs a project-based, multi-year retainer business model with undisclosed contract values. The company is privately held, founder-owned, and bootstrapped, with no external funding events disclosed in the input data. There are no public revenue figures, headcount growth metrics, or financial disclosures available, and no AI/ML, data, or platform capabilities are described; the firm competes on creative judgment, founder relationships, and category expertise rather than proprietary technology.

Name

Wicked+

Legal name

Wicked Group LLC

Website

https://wicked.is

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wicked+ is a strategy-led creative agency founded in 1999 and based in Hermosa Beach, California, serving luxury hospitality, resort, and residential real estate brands with brand development, PR, content marketing, creative, and website design services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand & Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAAAAAB

Creative Boutique Agencies

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

SECONDARYMPAAAAAA

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

SECONDARYMPAAAAAD

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

Keywords

• Brand development services
• Public relations services
• Content marketing services
• Hospitality marketing agency
• Creative production services

Headquarters

HQ city

Hermosa Beach

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Branding and Creative Services: Full-service branding, marketing, public relations and design services for luxury hospitality, resort, and residential brands. Services include brand development, creative direction, photography/film production, digital marketing, public relations, and integrated marketing campaigns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Wicked+ is a strategy-led creative agency that designs market-defining brands and runs integrated PR, content, creative, and marketing campaigns for luxury hospitality, resort, and residential development clients. Engagements span brand development, public relations, content marketing, creative, visual imagery (photography, film, renderings, VR/3), website design and development, strategy, and integrated marketing, typically delivered under multi-year project-based contracts to a limited client roster.

Product overview

Wicked+ is a full-service branding, marketing, public relations, and design firm that operates as a single integrated agency rather than a modular software platform. The company offers a unified suite of services spanning four main practice areas: Strategy (market positioning, competitive analysis, naming, and messaging), Creative (visual identity, brand guidelines, websites, and print collateral), Production (photography, film, campaigns, and creative direction), and Marketing (digital marketing, paid media, social/content, public relations, and CRM). The agency specializes in the hospitality, resort, and residential market sectors, delivering brand development, public relations, content marketing, website design, and visual imagery services as interconnected components of holistic brand campaigns. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Hermosa Beach, California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Development Comprehensive brand identity creation for luxury hospitality, resort, and residential real estate clients, including product naming, visual identity and logo design, brand positioning, and brand book development that enables clients to differentiate and command above-market pricing.
• Public Relations Communications and media relations services spanning publicity, community relations, story development, special events, crisis management, brand strategy, and brand evolution, with relationships across mainstream, local, international, and endemic media.
• Content Marketing Story-driven content creation and distribution services, including social media strategy and execution, blog strategy, editorial content, email marketing, and magazine publishing, designed to engage and excite audiences for client brands.
• Creative Services Creative execution that brings client brand stories to life, including copywriting, advertising creative development, collateral development, and signage design to connect with target audiences.
• Visual Imagery & Production Photography, film production, renderings, and VR/3D content created by an experienced in-house team of producers, art directors, and storytellers, often delivered alongside creative direction, campaign development, and launch events.
• Website Design & Development Website design and development services featuring clean, visually compelling design that evokes brand promise, including ecommerce, campaign landing pages, SEO optimization, and UX/UI design.
• Strategy Services Strategic thinking services that define the thinking behind the brand, including market positioning, buyer psychographics, competitive analysis, naming and brand architecture, and messaging strategy.
• Integrated Marketing Services Integrated marketing services designed to build awareness, preference, and momentum for client brands, including digital marketing, paid media strategy, social and content marketing, public relations, and CRM and email marketing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Victory Ranch: Sales increased from $7M (2013-2014) to $62M (2015) following marketing engagement
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BlackstonecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlackstone is listed as a partner organization that Wicked+ works alongside in the real estate and hospitality development space.
• Starwood Capital GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStarwood Capital Group is listed as a partner organization. Wicked+ provides strategic marketing partnership for Starwood portfolio projects.
• Four SeasonscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour Seasons is listed as a hospitality brand partner that Wicked+ works alongside for brand development and positioning.
• Ritz-CarltoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRitz-Carlton is listed as a partner organization. Wicked+ has delivered multiple projects for Ritz-Carlton branded residences.
• PendrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPendry is listed as a partner organization for hospitality brand development.
• MontagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMontage is listed as a partner organization. Wicked+ provides services for Montage Residences Healdsburg.
• AubergeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAuberge is listed as a partner organization in the luxury hospitality space.
• AECOMminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAECOM is listed as a partner organization in real estate development.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Pentagram is a partner-led design consultancy covering brand identity, marketing and digital design across luxury, real estate and hospitality clients. While larger in scope, its partner-led boutique delivery model and brand-identity focus make it a comparable peer to Wicked+'s brand development offering.
• Murphy O'Brien: Murphy O'Brien is a PR and marketing agency focused on luxury hospitality, real estate, and lifestyle brands. It mirrors Wicked+'s vertical specialization in luxury resorts and branded residences and emphasizes earned media and brand storytelling for high-end clients.
• The Brandman Agency: The Brandman Agency is a boutique PR and marketing firm serving hospitality, luxury and lifestyle clients. Its emphasis on PR-led storytelling for hotels, resorts and luxury real estate makes it directly comparable to Wicked+'s communications and brand campaigns work.
• Superunion: Superunion is a WPP-owned brand and creative consultancy that delivers brand strategy, identity, and marketing across multiple sectors including real estate and hospitality. It is comparable to Wicked+ in offering integrated brand strategy through creative execution, though operating at greater scale as part of a holding company.
• Lippincott: Lippincott is a brand strategy and design consultancy that helps companies define positioning, naming, and identity systems. It is comparable to Wicked+'s strategy-led brand development services and works across hospitality and real estate among other categories.
• The MKG Agency: The MKG Agency is a boutique creative and marketing firm serving hospitality, food & beverage, and lifestyle brands. Like Wicked+, it operates with a limited client roster and emphasizes integrated brand strategy, PR, and content for premium hospitality and experience-led brands.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman: Edelman is a global public relations and communications firm with strong practice areas in luxury, real estate and lifestyle. Its PR and brand-marketing capabilities directly overlap with Wicked+'s integrated communications work for luxury developers and hospitality brands.
• Publicis Groupe: Publicis Groupe is a global advertising, communications and marketing services holding company. It is comparable to Wicked+ through its roster of creative, media, and digital agencies, though its scale and breadth far exceed Wicked+'s boutique focus on luxury hospitality and residential.
• Allison+Partners: Allison+Partners is a mid-size global PR and communications firm with dedicated lifestyle, hospitality, and real estate practices. It competes with Wicked+ for luxury hospitality and residential PR accounts while operating greater geographic and service-line breadth.
• Havas Creative: Havas is a global communications group spanning advertising, media, PR, and design. Its network capability in advertising, PR and brand design overlaps with Wicked+'s full-service creative offering, though it serves a much broader client base with greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/237501
• Instagraminstagram.com/wickedplus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Wicked+