IMA

What IMA does

IMA (legally Intermarketing Agency Limited) is a privately held, full-service creative agency founded around 1989 and headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom. The agency is positioned as 'The Smollan Agency' within the Advantage Smollan Group, a jointly-owned holding company combining the resources of Advantage Solutions and Global Smollan Holdings. IMA serves approximately 200 enterprise and mid-market consumer brand clients globally from 8 offices across 6 regions (UK, continental Europe, North America, Middle East, and Africa), employing 400+ experts. Its core services span Strategy, Creative, Brand Experiences, Retail Design, Media, Social, Partnerships, and Production, with named clients across retail (adidas, Reebok, Oasis), automotive (Autotrader), travel (Jet2), FMCG (Haribo, SKYY Vodka, Harringtons), consumer electronics (Samsung, Hisense), pet care (Royal Canin, Harringtons), financial services (Yorkshire Building Society), and healthcare (Galderma).

IMA's business model is fee-for-service professional services, with bespoke engagement structures and undisclosed pricing that varies by client scope. The go-to-market motion is relationship-driven enterprise field sales, evidenced by client relationships extending 35+ years and dedicated account management teams across regions. In 2026, the agency launched two new divisions: IMA Production (an in-house production division integrating content producers, creators, and AI-enabled workflows) and Creators Collective (a curated external creator network), extending its offering beyond traditional agency services. AI tools are applied across image creation, video editing, translation, voice generation, and asset adaptation, with documented production gains on the Autotrader campaign (67% more asset output, 58% cost savings, 50% time reduction), always under human creative direction.

The agency differentiates through its affiliation with Smollan's physical retail experience infrastructure, 35+ years of brand-building heritage, and Hybrid Experience capabilities that blend physical and digital activations. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; based on 400+ employees serving ~200 enterprise clients, IMA is estimated to operate in the $100M–$250M revenue band. Leadership comprises CEO James Henry, Executive Creative Director Ben Ducker, regional MDs (Alex Uprichard for UK/Europe, Ross Adam for MENA, Bart Manders for Benelux, Katherine Freemantle for South Africa), and parent-group oversight from Mike Smollan as Chief Brand Activation Officer. Recent additions include Dan Veal as Head of Production and Emily Crabtree as Global Marketing Director, both in 2026.

Name

IMA

Legal name

Intermarketing Agency Limited

Website

https://ima.global

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

IMA is a privately held, full-service creative agency operating as 'The Smollan Agency' within the Advantage Smollan Group, serving approximately 200 enterprise consumer brand clients across 8 offices in 6 regions with strategy, creative, retail design, media, and AI-enabled production services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Public Relations Agencies (54182)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Campaign & Integrated Communications Agencies (MPAAAAAC), Activation/Experiential Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAO), Integrated Advertising (Brand + Performance + Media) (BPAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Creative agency services
• Brand experience design
• Retail activation campaigns
• Integrated media planning
• Content production services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: IMA generates revenue through fee-for-service creative agency engagements, providing strategy, creative, brand experiences, retail design, media, social, partnerships, and production services to clients. The agency builds long-term partnerships (some over 35 years) and manages multi-channel, always-on campaigns for clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IMA is a global creative agency that delivers integrated strategy, creative, brand experiences, retail design, media, social, partnerships, and production services to enterprise and mid-market consumer brands. The agency creates brand campaigns, retail activations, and multi-channel always-on marketing programs that span digital touchpoints and physical retail environments, with AI tools used selectively inside the creative workflow under human direction.

Product overview

IMA is a global creative agency that operates as a single unified service offering rather than a modular platform. Its portfolio spans Strategy & Creative, Brand Experiences, Retail Design, Media & Social, Partnerships, and Production (film, stills, social, post-production) — all brought together by a team of over 400 people across 8 offices in 6 regions. In 2026, IMA launched two new divisions: IMA Production (a dedicated in-house production division integrating content producers, creators, and AI-enabled workflows) and the Creators Collective (a curated external creator network for scalable content across brands, channels, and budgets). The agency also produces pro-bono campaigns such as 'Kwit for Good'. AI-enhanced workflows — including image creation, video editing, translation, voice generation, and asset adaptation — are woven throughout the production pipeline but always under human creative direction. The agency uses a proprietary 'Hybrid Experience' team that blends physical design with digital storytelling for retail activations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IMA Production: A new division launching in 2026 focused on delivering broadcast, global productions, and creator-led social content with AI-enabled workflows.
• Creators Collective

Products and services

• Strategy & Creative Strategic planning and creative development services that shape brand positioning, messaging, and campaign concepts across multiple channels and markets. Aimed at enterprise consumer brand clients seeking integrated strategic and creative direction.
• Brand Experiences Immersive brand activations and experiential marketing campaigns that create meaningful consumer connections through events, pop-ups, and live brand moments. Designed for brands seeking to translate campaigns into physical brand experiences.
• Retail Design End-to-end retail space design encompassing spatial design, human experience (HX), production, and consumer journey reinvention for flagship stores and retail environments. Targeted at retail and fashion brand clients investing in physical store experience.
• Media & Social Paid, owned, and earned media planning and activation, including social media strategy, content creation, and always-on multi-channel campaigns spanning TV/VOD, radio, OOH/DOOH, YouTube, and digital display.
• Production (film, stills, social, post-production) Full-service content production including film, photography, social content, and post-production, delivered through IMA's in-house studio with AI-enabled workflows supporting always-on, social-first delivery for client campaigns.
• Partnerships Brand partnership strategy and activation services connecting brands with cultural moments, influencers, and collaborative marketing opportunities. Designed for clients seeking to extend brand reach through partnerships and sponsorships.
• IMA Production A dedicated production division launched in 2026 that integrates content producers, creators, and AI-enabled workflows into a joined-up in-house studio offering, delivering broadcast, global productions, and creator-led social content for IMA clients.
• Creators Collective A curated network of creators launched in 2026 to deliver high-quality, scalable content across brands, channels, and budgets for IMA clients, complementing the in-house IMA Production studio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% recognition rate from 2.5 seconds of audio for Jet2's 'Hold My Hand' campaign
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 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

Integration4 records

AI capability7 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UprisercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMA is one of the original Upriser Partners, paired with Brigshaw Learning Trust in East Leeds to spark creative thinking and nurture the next generation of talent. Upriser is an industry-specific, long-term partnership designed to support people from disadvantaged backgrounds with education and creative careers.
• Employment and Skills LeedsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment initiative supporting people from all backgrounds and abilities into employment. Part of IMA's future talent initiatives to develop diverse employees and improve future talent pipeline.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Anomaly: Independently-owned creative agency with offices in New York, London, Toronto, Shanghai, LA and Berlin. Directly comparable to IMA as a mid-size global creative agency offering brand strategy, advertising, and content production for enterprise consumer clients.
• Droga5: Independently-founded creative agency (now part of Accenture Song) with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Dublin and São Paulo. Comparable to IMA as a globally recognized creative agency known for breakthrough brand campaigns and integrated work for enterprise clients.
• Serviceplan Group: Largest independent creative agency group in Europe, headquartered in Munich with offices across multiple continents. Directly comparable to IMA as an independent, founder-led full-service creative network serving enterprise brands globally.
• Mother: Independent global creative agency with offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. Closely comparable to IMA as a mid-sized independent full-service creative shop serving enterprise brands across advertising, brand experience and content.
• Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH): Long-established independent creative agency with global offices (London, New York, Shanghai, Mumbai, Singapore, Stockholm). Comparable to IMA in offering full-service creative, brand experience and production for major consumer brands, with similar London roots and global expansion pattern.
• The & Partnership: Independently-owned creative and media agency with global presence. Similar to IMA in operating an integrated creative-plus-media-plus-production model for enterprise consumer brands across multiple regions.
• Imagination Group: Global independent creative agency specializing in brand experience, live events and experiential campaigns. Highly relevant as a peer given IMA's significant brand-experiences and retail-activation work for clients like SKYY Vodka, adidas and Reebok.

Broad incumbents

• Dentsu Creative: Global creative network of Dentsu, one of the big-five agency holding companies, with offices worldwide. Comparable as a competitor for the same enterprise creative briefs IMA pitches, but operating at significantly larger scale within a holding-company structure.
• McCann Worldgroup: Large global creative network within IPG, with hundreds of offices worldwide. Comparable to IMA in serving enterprise CPG, retail and tech clients with creative and brand-experience work, but at holding-company scale.
• Saatchi & Saatchi: Iconic global creative network within Publicis Groupe with offices in 60+ countries. Relevant incumbent competitor to IMA in the same enterprise creative category, but at materially larger scale and with full holding-company backing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/_imaglobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/imaglobal/posts/?feedView=all
• Instagraminstagram.com/_imaglobal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IMA