Agar

What Agar does

AGAR is a Cincinnati-based creative agency founded in 2008 that operates at the intersection of experiential marketing, brand experience design, environmental design, and public art placemaking. The firm delivers end-to-end services spanning strategy, design, production, and on-site activation for Fortune 500 consumer brands, municipalities, economic development organizations, real estate developers, and cultural institutions. Core offerings include Brand Experience Services (activations, pop-ups, corporate events, influencer strategy, branded content), Environmental Design Services (retail, hospitality, workplace, and restaurant design), and Placemaking & Public Art Services (public art strategy, mural programs, sculptures, projection mapping, and cultural district programming). Its flagship initiative is BLINK, the nation's largest public light, art, and projection mapping festival, co-created with ArtsWave and the City of Cincinnati, which has drawn more than 2.1 million attendees and generated $126 million in direct regional economic impact. The agency also operates its own hospitality venues including Ghost Baby and Nation Kitchen & Bar, providing firsthand operational insight into guest experience.

AGAR's business model is project-based professional services revenue, with custom-quoted engagements tailored to client scope rather than standardized pricing tiers. Revenue streams are diversified across enterprise brand activations (P&G, Kroger, Toyota, Kenvue, Angostura, Smartwater, Huffy), municipal and developer placemaking contracts (3CDC, PLK Communities, Factory 52, UC Alumni Association), and large-scale festival production (BLINK, Cincinnati Music Festival, Flying Pig Marathon). Distribution is direct enterprise field sales with no intermediary channels, supplemented by thought leadership content, conference participation (Experiential Marketing Summit, Shop! Marketplace, WXO Summit, CODA Summit), and earned media coverage in Forbes, Fast Company, and Juxtapoz Magazine. The company maintains offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and Bentonville, Arkansas, with project execution spanning the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, and select international markets including Australia (Vivid Sydney 2026).

The firm employs 51-100 people and is privately held and founder-led by co-founder Josh Heuser and managing partner Andrew Salzbrun. AGAR has earned multiple industry recognitions including Event Marketer's IT List of Top 100 Event Agencies, VMSD Top Retail Design Firms, Shop! Design Awards, and Experience Design & Technology Awards, and is positioned as a regional leader in experiential marketing with growing national and international footprint.

Name

Agar

Legal name

AGAR

Website

https://theagar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

AGAR is a Cincinnati-based creative agency founded in 2008 that designs experiential marketing, brand activations, environmental design, and public art placemaking for Fortune 500 brands, municipalities, and developers, with BLINK as its flagship festival.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (54185)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Activations & Experiential Campaign Design (MPAAAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Activations & Pop-Ups (Retail/Street/Guerrilla) (BPAFAGAF), Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL), Corporate Event Production & AV Services (HSACADAB)

Keywords

• Experiential marketing services
• Brand activation services
• Public art installation
• Environmental design services
• Festival production services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

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, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Brand Experience & Activation Services: Professional services revenue from designing and executing brand activations, experiential marketing campaigns, and corporate events for enterprise clients. Services include strategy, design, production, and activation across multiple channels.
2. Public Art & Placemaking: Revenue generated from municipal and developer engagements for public art installations, murals, sculptures, and placemaking strategies. Includes ongoing programming and activation management for destinations.
3. Festival Production & Management: Revenue from producing and managing large-scale cultural festivals and events, including BLINK Cincinnati. Includes sponsorship coordination and regional economic development partnerships.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

AGAR is a creative agency that designs and produces experiential marketing campaigns, brand activations, environmental and retail design, and public art installations for enterprise clients. Core service lines include Brand Experience (events, activations, influencer campaigns, branded content), Environmental Design (retail, hospitality, workplace design), and Placemaking & Public Art (murals, sculptures, projection mapping), with BLINK, the nation's largest light, art, and projection mapping festival, as its flagship produced event. AGAR also operates its own hospitality venues that inform its experiential design work.

Product overview

AGAR is a creative agency operating as a unified offering built around experiential marketing, brand experiences, retail innovation, hospitality, and public art. The company's core portfolio spans Brand Experience Services (activations, events, influencer campaigns, branded content), Environmental Design Services (retail, hospitality, workplace design), and Placemaking & Public Art Services (public art strategy, murals, sculptures, projections). AGAR's flagship initiative is BLINK, the nation's largest light and art festival. The agency also operates hospitality venues including Ghost Baby, Nation Kitchen & Bar, The Hannaford, and Prim. AGAR delivers client-specific services for brands like Kroger, P&G, Smartwater, and Angostura, handling everything from guerrilla marketing to large-scale festival activations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BLINK Festival BLINK is a four-night public light, art, and projection mapping festival held in Cincinnati, featuring large-scale projection mapping, street murals, interactive light sculptures, and musical acts across 30 city blocks in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, with attendance exceeding 2.1 million visitors at the 2022 edition.
• Brand Experience Services Full-service brand activation and experiential marketing offering for enterprise clients, including brand activations, immersive experiences, pop-ups, corporate events, employee engagement, influencer strategy, branded content creation, and social media management.
• Environmental Design Services Environmental graphic design services for enterprise clients covering retail design, visual merchandising, restaurant design, hospitality design, workplace design, and brand identity design systems.
• Placemaking & Public Art Services Public art strategy, curation, design, fabrication, and installation management; community engagement; cultural strategy; and programming and event development for placemaking initiatives for municipalities, developers, and cultural institutions.
• Brand Ambassador Program Flexible, event-based brand ambassador staffing program providing on-the-ground brand representation for Fortune 500 clients at vehicle demos, music festival activations, trade shows, product release parties, and community events across the United States.

Quantifiable outcome

• BLINK festival generated $126 million direct economic impact for Cincinnati region with 2.1 million attendees
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, key and notable.

• Procter & GamblecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with P&G for brand activations and experiences. AGAR creates new and engaging ways to connect P&G brands with consumers and employees, focusing on talent acquisition, brand experiences, events, and community involvement. Notable work includes Cincinnati Music Festival activations.
• KrogercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver a decade-long partnership helping Kroger develop fresh and unique ways to reach consumers through memorable brand experiences. Work includes guerrilla marketing, influencer campaigns, pop-up activations, events, and Kroger Delivery go-to-market strategy.
• ArtsWavecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for BLINK festival, illuminated by ArtsWave. ArtsWave is the engine for arts and culture in Greater Cincinnati, and AGAR is co-creator of the BLINK festival.
• 3CDCkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Cincinnati's leading non-profit development corporation for Court Street development project, including public art curation and implementation.
• PLK CommunitieskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership for Factory 52 development, driving experiential vision from activation to communications including public art, events, and social media strategy.
• University of Cincinnati Alumni AssociationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year partnership for rotating mural installations honoring alumni at 1430 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, plus annual Alumni Celebration event production.
• Cincinnati Music FestivalcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Cincinnati Music Festival, one of the country's largest music events, producing brand activations and experiences for sponsors.
• AngosturakeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Angostura's 200th anniversary celebration including immersive brand experiences at South Beach Food & Wine Festival and North American championships for The Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge.
• KenvuekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to debut Kenvue's modern brand identity at Kroger Wellness Festival 2023, designing and executing immersive brand environment.
• Black Art SpeakskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Elm Street Plaza sculpture art installation commemorating the legacy and cultural impact of Cincinnati's King Records.
• Vivid SydneynotableGTM or Marketing PartnerAGAR taking its 'Afterimage' projection-mapping work to Australia as part of Vivid Sydney 2026 international festival.
• SmartwaterkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for brand experience activation at Kroger Wellness Festival, creating immersive hydration experience celebrating product innovation.
• United Wheels Inc.keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Huffy Electric Green Machine product launch events and ongoing brand campaigns including NYC launch event and holiday campaign.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• MAS Event Design: MAS Event Design is a Los Angeles-based boutique experiential agency focused on immersive installations, projection mapping, and large-scale public art and festival projects. It is an emerging peer to AGAR with particular overlap on projection mapping and light-art festival production (AGAR's BLINK specialty).

Direct peers

• GMR Marketing: GMR Marketing is a global experiential and shopper marketing agency focused on sports, entertainment, and consumer brand activations for major CPG, retail, and beverage clients. It is a direct competitor to AGAR on enterprise experiential campaigns and shares an overlap on Kroger/P&G-tier consumer brand engagements.
• Mosaic Group: Mosaic is a North America-based experiential marketing agency specializing in in-store, retail, and shopper experiences for consumer brands. It overlaps with AGAR's brand activation and retail-environment design work for CPG and retail clients such as Kroger.
• Legacy Agency: Legacy Agency is a Chicago-based experiential marketing agency producing brand activations, immersive experiences, and event production for CPG, retail, and consumer brands. It is a direct peer to AGAR with comparable scope (strategy, design, production) and a similar mid-sized agency profile.
• MKG Experience: MKG is a New York-based experiential marketing agency delivering brand experiences, immersive activations, and event production for enterprise clients. It is a direct competitor to AGAR in the brand activation and experiential campaign category, with overlapping Fortune 500 clientele and similar end-to-end strategy-through-activation capabilities.
• Sparks: Sparks is a Philadelphia-headquartered experiential marketing agency specializing in brand experiences, pop-ups, exhibits, and live events for global brands. It competes with AGAR for Fortune 500 experiential budgets and shares a similar end-to-end strategy, design, and production model.
• Elevation Ltd. Elevation is a UK-based brand experience and live events agency producing activations, conferences, and award ceremonies for global enterprise clients. It is a direct peer to AGAR on the experiential marketing and live event production side, with comparable mid-sized agency profile and end-to-end delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• Jack Morton Worldwide: Jack Morton is a global brand experience agency and a longstanding Interpublic Group operating company producing brand experiences, events, and activations for the world's largest advertisers. It is a broader incumbent to AGAR with deeper geographic reach and larger client rosters, but overlaps directly on experiential campaign design and event production.
• George P. Johnson Experience Marketing: George P. Johnson is one of the largest independent experience marketing agencies worldwide, with a 100+ year heritage in brand activations, experiential campaigns, and event production. It is a broad incumbent peer to AGAR, operating at greater scale across multiple regions and verticals.

Regional players

• Fabcom: Fabcom is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based creative agency offering brand strategy, environmental design, and integrated marketing services for consumer and enterprise clients. It is a regional peer to AGAR in environmental graphic design and brand experience work for mid-market and enterprise clients in the U.S. Southwest.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@the_agar_co
• Facebookfacebook.com/theAGARco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2050150
• Instagraminstagram.com/the_agar_co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Agar