What Liquid Advertising does

Liquid Advertising, Inc. is an independent, founder-owned, full-service marketing agency specializing in gaming and entertainment clients. Founded in 2000 by Will Akerlof and headquartered in El Segundo, California, the firm has grown from a 4-person operation into a 100+ person organization with nine offices spanning Los Angeles, Mexico City, Chicago, São Paulo, London, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Taipei. Liquid delivers integrated marketing services across three pillars: Media Planning & Activation (strategy, audience development, media investment, performance marketing, influencer marketing, and analytics), Creative Services (messaging, AV production, game capture, key art, digital/print out-of-home, experiential activations, and AR/mixed reality), and Business Development & Consulting (audience insights, competitive analysis, MarTech evaluation, data governance, and in-housing consulting). Its client roster is dominated by AAA video game publishers and platforms — including Twitch (Amazon), Blizzard Entertainment, Bethesda Softworks, Hoyoverse, Konami, Sega, CD Projekt Red, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Capcom, Krafton, Bungie, Nexon, and Riot — supplemented by adjacent entertainment, apparel (Pair of Thieves), and fintech (Mana) clients.

The agency operates on a professional-services, project- and retainer-based commercial model with multi-year contracts and custom-quoted engagements; it does not publish standard pricing tiers. Its GTM motion is sales-led and relationship-driven, executed by a multidisciplinary team that positions itself as an extension of the client's marketing organization rather than a transactional vendor. The technology stack is that of a marketing services provider — Liquid does not operate proprietary ad-tech, SaaS platforms, or APIs; its closest engagement with AI is a December 2024 pilot partnership with Kontext/PubMatic for AI-powered conversational advertising, where campaigns reportedly delivered 70% higher ROAS than client targets.

Liquid's reported scale metrics include a 99% client retention rate (described as 2.5x the industry average), coverage across 5 continents, 24 countries, and 11 languages enabling 18-of-24-hour follow-the-sun execution, and 60+ creative awards including a 2022 Grand Clio and multiple 2024 Clio Entertainment, Jay Chiat, and Vega honors. The company is privately held with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent company, and is led by founder-CEO Will Akerlof.

Name

Liquid Advertising

Legal name

Liquid Advertising, Inc.

Website

https://liquidadvertising.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Liquid Advertising is an independent, founder-owned, full-service marketing agency specializing in gaming and entertainment clients, serving AAA publishers (Bethesda, Blizzard, Square Enix, Konami, Sega, Ubisoft, Hoyoverse) with media planning, creative, and consulting services delivered from nine global offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing & Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Media Buying Agencies (54183)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Marketing Strategy & Channel Mix Advisory (MPAAAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Brand Advertising (Broadcast/Online Commercials) (MPADAEAA)

Keywords

• Gaming marketing agency
• Media planning services
• Creative production agency
• Entertainment advertising
• Influencer marketing campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

El Segundo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Marketing Services: Full-service marketing agency providing media planning and activation, creative services, and business development consulting to gaming and entertainment clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Liquid Advertising is an independent, global, full-service marketing agency that creates and engages fanbases for gaming and entertainment clients. It delivers three core service pillars—Media Planning & Activation (media strategy, audience development, performance marketing, influencer marketing, analytics), Creative Services (AV production, game capture, key art, digital banners, OOH, experiential, AR/mixed reality), and Business Development & Consulting (audience insights, strategic planning, MarTech evaluation, data governance)—to video game publishers and entertainment brands worldwide.

Product overview

Liquid Advertising is an independent, global, full-service marketing agency specializing in creating and engaging fanbases for gaming and entertainment clients. The agency operates three core service pillars: Media Planning & Activation (covering media strategy, audience development, performance marketing, and influencer marketing), Creative Services (encompassing AV production, game capture, digital banners, key art, out-of-home campaigns, experiential activations, and AR/mixed reality), and Business Development & Consulting (including strategic planning, MarTech evaluation, and data governance). The agency also produces original content series including Hot Takes with Pierre & Pedram, Highly Questionable with Ryan Chase, the Data Dive insights series, and Monthly News Roundups. With 100+ team members across 9 global offices, the agency serves major gaming publishers including Bethesda, Square Enix, Konami, Blizzard, SEGA, and many others.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Media Planning & Activation
• Creative Services
• Business Development & Consulting
• Hot Takes with Pierre & Pedram

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% client retention rate (2.5x industry average)
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers32 records

Segments3 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.

• KontextcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 December 2024Liquid Advertising served as the initial pilot customer for PubMatic and Kontext's AI-powered conversational advertising partnership. This partnership enables programmatic access to advertising within chatbots and generative AI experiences. Liquid's pilot campaigns demonstrated 70% higher ROAS than client targets and 1.5x stronger click-to-convert rates.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wieden+Kennedy: Large independent creative agency with a long-running games and entertainment portfolio (e.g., Nike gaming, Xbox work). Competes with Liquid for brand-led campaigns and creative leadership mandates for major publishers.
• Monks (formerly MediaMonks): Global digital production and media agency under S4Capital. Direct competitor on enterprise gaming accounts needing end-to-end media, creative, and tech production with global delivery capability.
• Droga5 (Accenture Song): Premium creative agency within Accenture Song with high-profile entertainment and gaming accounts. Overlaps with Liquid on big-budget brand campaigns for major publishers despite a broader portfolio focus.
• R/GA (IPG): Digital and innovation agency within IPG with deep gaming, entertainment and brand-experience work. Overlaps with Liquid on creative production, digital campaigns, and emerging-media experimentation for publisher clients.
• Dentsu Gaming: Gaming arm of Dentsu, the global holding-company network. Competes for the same AAA publisher mandates but with parent-company scale, cross-region media buying leverage, and adjacent services Liquid cannot match.
• 72andSunny: Independent creative agency that has handled gaming and entertainment clients (e.g., Activision) historically. Comparable brand-campaign capability at a similar size, competing for the same mid-to-large publisher engagements.

Direct peers

• Trailer Park Group: Entertainment marketing and content agency specialized in film, TV, and games activations (AV production, key art, social). Direct competitor for the same publisher marketing budgets Liquid targets, particularly around game launches and franchise campaigns.
• Rokkan (Havas): Digital-first creative agency now part of Havas that built its reputation on Xbox, PlayStation and AAA gaming marketing. Same gaming-vertical focus, same enterprise-publisher client profile, and overlapping experiential/influencer capabilities.
• Ayzenberg: Pasadena-based independent agency purpose-built around gaming, entertainment and youth-culture marketing. Direct competitor to Liquid for AAA publisher creative and media work, with similar specialization depth and client list overlap.

Emerging players

• Giant Spoon: Independent media and brand agency with strong entertainment and gaming credentials (former Twitch, Samsung Gaming partnerships). Comparable culture and specialty positioning to Liquid at similar headcount.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Liquid_Ad
• Facebookfacebook.com/LiquidAdvInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/liquid-advertising
• Instagraminstagram.com/liquidadvertising
• TikToktiktok.com/@liquidadv

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 Liquid Advertising