What Cooke Wax Partnership does

Cooke Wax Partnership is a Brooklyn-based creative studio founded in 2012 by Marty Cooke and Steve Wax that delivers brand strategy, identity development, advertising campaigns, and content creation for brands and nonprofit causes. The firm operates with a small team (approximately 8 people) and serves a horizontally diversified client base spanning entertainment (IMAX as agency of record), luxury travel (Kensington Tours), food and beverage (Guittard Chocolate, Thomas Preti Catering), nonprofits (United Way of New York City, Center for Civil and Human Rights), government (NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission), and startups (Pointworthy).

The studio's underlying capability is human-driven creative storytelling rather than any proprietary software or technology platform; the source material explicitly states "No specific technology platform or proprietary software mentioned," and there is no evidence of AI/ML tooling, automation infrastructure, or a SaaS-style product. Service delivery relies on senior creative talent — including an Oscar/Emmy-nominated Narratologist (Steve Wax), a creative director featured in The Copy Book (Marty Cooke), and staff drawn from agencies such as Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA\Chiat\Day, SS+K, DDB, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Revenue is generated through fee-for-service professional engagements: discrete project work (e.g., brand identity development for the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Pointworthy launch) and ongoing agency-of-record retainers (e.g., IMAX). Pricing is custom-quoted and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led, with direct engagement to enterprise, nonprofit, and government clients, supported by a portfolio website (cookewax.com) and case-study marketing. The firm is privately held by its two principals with no outside investors, parent company, or capital structure documented in the source data.

Name

Cooke Wax Partnership

Legal name

Cooke Wax Partnership

Website

https://cookewax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cooke Wax Partnership is a Brooklyn-based creative studio founded in 2012 by Marty Cooke and Steve Wax that provides brand strategy, identity design, and advertising campaigns to enterprises, nonprofits, government agencies, and luxury brands including IMAX, United Way of NYC, and Kensington Tours.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Fee-for-service creative studio providing brand strategy, identity development, advertising campaigns, and content creation to brands and causes. Revenue generated through project-based engagements and ongoing agency of record relationships.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Cooke Wax Partnership is a Brooklyn-based creative studio that develops brand strategy, identity systems (logos, names, taglines), advertising campaigns, and content production (video, print, digital, social) for brands, nonprofits, and government institutions. Founded in 2012 by Marty Cooke and Steve Wax, the firm serves clients across categories including entertainment, hospitality, automotive, food, and animal welfare.

Product overview

Cooke Wax Partnership is a creative studio/agency (not a software platform) that offers branding, advertising, and campaign services to clients across various sectors including entertainment, food/beverage, travel, nonprofits, and government. The company does not operate a unified product platform; rather, it provides discrete creative services projects for each client, including brand strategy, identity design, campaign creation, social media management, and advertising across media channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Strategy
• Identity Design
• Advertising Campaigns
• Content Production
• Social Media Management Day-to-day social media content creation, publishing, and community management for client brands, including celebrity-driven channels such as Chef Thomas Preti's Twitter presence.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully repositioned United Way of NYC from 'old-fashioned bureaucratic charity' to 'Activists Inside' positioning, with manifesto displayed in their lobby and boardroom
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Droga5: Droga5 is an award-winning creative agency handling AOR relationships with major global brands across entertainment, consumer, and tech. Comparable to Cooke Wax in delivering high-profile brand campaigns for marquee clients, though at significantly larger scale and with broader integrated capabilities.
• Wieden+Kennedy: Wieden+Kennedy is a top-tier independent creative agency known for iconic brand work (Nike, etc.). Multiple Cooke Wax team members previously worked at W+K NYC (Victoria Estevez, Christina De La Cruz), and the firm competes for similar premium creative briefs from enterprise brands.
• R/GA: R/GA is a global creative innovation agency offering brand strategy, advertising, and product design. Comparable to Cooke Wax in providing integrated brand and campaign services to enterprise clients, though with substantially more scale and capabilities.
• 72andSunny: 72andSunny is an independent creative agency known for major brand campaigns and entertainment clients. Comparable to Cooke Wax in the type of high-impact brand campaign work it delivers (similar to the IMAX and Guittard Chocolate engagements) but at significantly greater scale and geographic footprint.
• SS+K: SS+K is a purpose-driven creative agency known for cause-marketing and brand transformation work for nonprofits and progressive brands. Marty Cooke was previously Creative Director at SS+K, and Cooke Wax's nonprofit-focused client base (United Way of NYC, Center for Civil and Human Rights) directly mirrors SS+K's positioning, making it the closest analog.

Direct peers

• Pereira O'Dell: Pereira O'Dell is an independent creative agency with offices in NYC and San Francisco serving enterprise brands with integrated advertising and brand work. Similar mid-sized independent agency profile to Cooke Wax, with comparable client mix and founder-driven creative culture.
• Anomaly: Anomaly is an independent creative agency that blends brand strategy, advertising, and content production for enterprise clients. Similar in offering to Cooke Wax (brand strategy, campaign development, AOR-style engagements) but with significantly more scale, offices, and global reach.
• Mother: Mother is an independent creative agency network operating in NYC, London, and other cities with a founder-led culture and emphasis on bold creative work. Comparable to Cooke Wax in independent positioning, founder-led narrative, and premium brand transformation engagements, though at larger scale.

Emerging players

• Chelsea Pictures: Chelsea Pictures is a production company founded by Steve Wax, focused on film, branded content, and storytelling for brands. Closely related to Cooke Wax through Steve Wax's role as founder, with overlapping expertise in narrative content and brand film work.
• Campfire: Campfire is a NYC-based creative studio founded by Steve Wax that pioneered branded content and storytelling for entertainment and tech clients. Closely related to Cooke Wax through Steve Wax's founding role at Campfire, with overlapping narrative-driven creative expertise.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Cooke Wax Partnership