The Hunting Lodge

What The Hunting Lodge does

The Hunting Lodge is a boutique marketing and advertising recruiting firm based in New York City, founded by Hunter Gilmore and operating with approximately 8 employees. The firm specializes in placing mid-level to executive-level candidates across Account Management, Strategy/Brand Planning, Project Management, Production, Experiential, Digital, Social Media, Integrated, and Traditional disciplines, covering both freelance and full-time engagements. Its value proposition rests on blending the capabilities of a contingency recruiting firm with the attention to detail of a retained consultant, leveraging Gilmore's prior experience at recruitment firms and a leading NYC creative agency to source talent through personal networks rather than proprietary technology platforms.

The firm generates revenue through placement fees on successful candidate matches, operating on a contingency basis with retained search engagements as needed. Its go-to-market is direct and relationship-driven: outreach via personal email ([email protected]), LinkedIn networking, and a WordPress-based website that functions as both a job board (categorized by discipline) and a content marketing channel through a blog and newsletter subscription. The customer base consists of marketing and advertising agencies — ranging from boutique experiential shops to global branding/design firms — primarily in the NYC metro area but with documented placements extending nationally and to London and Seoul. The firm has no disclosed funding, no proprietary technology, no AI capabilities, and no institutional investors, operating as a founder-owned professional services business.

Distribution is concentrated in personal outreach and self-serve website traffic, supported by social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There is no evidence of enterprise sales infrastructure, channel partnerships, or platform-based lead generation beyond the website job board and blog content. The business model is fundamentally a personal-network intermediation service, with growth dependent on the founder's continued industry relationships rather than scalable technology or systematic outbound processes.

Name

The Hunting Lodge

Legal name

The Hunting Lodge

Website

https://thehuntinglodgenyc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Hunting Lodge is a New York City-based boutique recruiting firm founded by Hunter Gilmore that places mid-level to executive-level marketing and advertising professionals in freelance and full-time roles, serving agencies and brands through a contingency-plus-retained model built on personal networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing & Advertising Recruiting

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Agent of Record (AOR) / Contractor Engagement Services (BPACAGAB)

Keywords

• Marketing recruiting services
• Advertising talent placement
• Executive search recruiting
• Creative staffing solutions
• Contingency recruiting firm

Headquarters

HQ city

New York, NY

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Recruiting/Placement Services: The Hunting Lodge generates revenue by placing candidates in marketing and advertising positions for client companies. The firm operates as a contingency-based recruiter blended with retained consultant services, placing candidates at mid-level to executive levels in both freelance and full-time roles across Account Management, Strategy, Brand Planning, Project Management, Production, Experiential, Digital, Social Media, and Traditional disciplines.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Hunting Lodge is a boutique marketing and advertising recruiting firm that blends contingency recruitment with retained executive search attention. The firm places mid-level to executive-level candidates in marketing and advertising roles across Account Management, Strategy/Brand Planning, Project Management, Production, Experiential, Digital, Social Media, Integrated, and Traditional disciplines, for both freelance and full-time engagements. Operating primarily from NYC with a national reach, the firm serves employer clients seeking marketing and advertising talent while also functioning as a career partner for job seekers in the industry.

Product overview

The Hunting Lodge is a marketing and advertising recruiting firm that operates as a single unified service offering, blending the capabilities of a contingency firm with the attention to detail of a retained consultant. The firm specializes in placements across Account Management, Strategy/Brand Planning, Project Management, Production, Experiential, Digital, Social Media, Integrated, Traditional, Freelance and full-time positions, serving both employers seeking talent and job seekers pursuing career advancement in the marketing and advertising industry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marketing & Advertising Recruiting Services A contingency-based recruiting and retained consulting service that specializes in placing mid-level to executive-level candidates in marketing and advertising roles across Account Management, Strategy/Brand Planning, Project Management, Production, Experiential, Digital, Social Media, Integrated, and Traditional disciplines, for both freelance and full-time engagements. The service is targeted at marketing and advertising agencies, branding/design firms, and in-house marketing departments seeking talent, as well as marketing and advertising professionals seeking career opportunities.

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with executive search capabilities across marketing officer and CMO roles. Comparable only at the senior executive search tier, as a vastly larger incumbent with broader industry reach.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a marketing, sales, and consumer practice serving agencies and in-house marketing leadership. Comparable only at the executive/retained-search end of The Hunting Lodge's offering, as a much larger incumbent.
• Robert Half: Large generalist staffing firm with a dedicated marketing and creative division placing contract and full-time marketing professionals. Comparable in marketing role coverage but operates as a broad incumbent serving multiple industries, not a specialist.
• Vitamin T (Aquent): Aquent's creative/marketing staffing arm focused on placing designers, creatives, marketers, and digital professionals. A larger, broader incumbent with significant overlap on creative and marketing talent placements, though serving a wider customer base than the boutique Hunting Lodge.

Direct peers

• 52 Ltd: Creative and marketing staffing firm placing freelance and full-time talent across creative, account, production, and strategy roles. Comparable to The Hunting Lodge in its multi-discipline marketing/advertising coverage and freelance/full-time offering.
• Artisan Talent: Creative, marketing, and digital staffing firm providing freelance, contract, and permanent placements. Comparable in terms of marketing/creative discipline coverage and freelance + full-time placement mix.
• The Bowdoin Group: Boutique marketing and advertising search firm placing candidates at agencies and in-house brand teams. Comparable in terms of exclusive vertical focus, executive-level placements, and NYC operating base.
• Creative Circle: Specialized staffing agency for creative, marketing, and digital professionals, offering both freelance/temp and full-time placements. Comparable in its discipline coverage (creative, copy, account, digital, production) and freelance/full-time hybrid model.
• The GRACE Group: Specialized recruiting firm focused on advertising, marketing, media, and communications roles. Comparable to The Hunting Lodge in its contingency + retained hybrid model and its concentrated focus on agency-side marketing and advertising talent.
• The Search House: Boutique recruiting firm specializing in marketing, advertising, creative, and digital talent placements. Directly comparable to The Hunting Lodge in vertical focus, candidate seniority (mid-to-executive), and relationship-driven NYC-based operating model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/huntinglodgenyc
• Facebookfacebook.com/THLodge
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-hunting-lodge

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 The Hunting Lodge