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What's In A Name?

What’s In A Name?

We all know that business, like life, is a journey. This is even more true in comic books, as an unlikely, average person becomes something greater than him or herself, then works for the greater good. We’re not saying we have superpowers (or are we?), but our journey to White Hat has a lot of similarities to Wonder Woman or Peter Parker’s story.

The History.

Marketing Matters started its journey in 2002 with Deborah Magnuson-Elliott and Pat Stark, no relation to Tony Stark. This woman-owned business built a name for itself by being the good guys, who deliver on both the business and creative front. Over the course of 14 years, Marketing Matters and its staff collected multiple awards for creative campaigns as well as excellence in leadership.

In early 2016, Marketing Matters acquired key creative and account service hires, and the agency co-founders felt compelled to update the agency’s brand to align, not only with their good guy image, but also highlight the shop’s new creative process and strategic firepower. The new employees bring experience from world-class agencies like Young & Rubicam, McCann Erickson, Carmichael Lynch, The Richards Group, and Edelman.

White Hat was born.

“The name White Hat has a throwback feel, but if you Google it today, it’s synonymous with optimizing and protecting data, like white hat SEO, and that’s not far off from what we do for our clients,” explains agency co-founder Deborah Magnuson-Elliott. “We vigilantly protect our clients’ brands by delivering optimized marketing strategies with creative, quantifiable results.”

Sounds pretty good, right? Wait, there’s more!

“In Austin there is no shortage of good creative. But creative backed by strong business acumen has empowered us to be a trusted partner with the integrity to lead the way – which is White Hat’s sweet spot,” explains co-founder Pat Stark. “Proof? Our client retention rate is enviable; White Hat has numerous clients that have been with the agency for more than a decade. That’s something we are deeply proud of.”

Sometimes the good guys are born that way, and sometimes they are made. White Hat was both – founded by good people and continually molded and improved by our employees and clients.

We Are White Hat!

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