A new arrival is being celebrated at Matsumoto & Clapperton Advertising LLC.
Partners Craig Matsumoto and Ed Clapperton have welcomed AIDIA Studio LLC founder Brent Shiratori to the fold in an acquisition finalized March 16.
Full-service advertising and marketing firm Matsumoto & Clapperton saw the additional strength Shiratori’s firm could bring to their own.
What many advertisers and marketers need help with, Clapperton said, "is not giving them what they want; rather, it’s helping them define the project and giving them what they need."
Shiratori worked in advertising agencies for years, including a stint in San Francisco. But upon returning to Hawaii "a couple years ago," he turned his focus to online digital media as well as strategic planning, which "is not as prevalent here."
AIDIA developed social media and website strategies but not just Web design, he said. Rather, it was more on the planning behind what went out digitally.
Merging talents and strengths is "really to improve the services we offer our clients, and meeting their needs in an exemplary way," Clapperton said.
"We feel like together we can offer our clients a stronger solution."
Many companies have handled their traditional advertising and online execution "as separate things," often having separate companies do the various tasks, Shiratori said. "What we want to do is provide an all-in-one solution" so clients get "a very integrated strategy and execution — because the world is changing."
With the acquisition, the Matsumoto & Clapperton employee roster has only grown by one name, but "there might be some more people working with and joining us down the road," Clapperton said. The offices are at 705 S. King St., Suite 104.
Matsumoto & Clapperton was formed in 2000 by the partners, who had worked in agencies before deciding to hang out their own shingle, much as did Shiratori.
Matsumoto is a previous Ad Man of the Year, as named by the American Advertising Federation — Hawaii chapter.
Shiratori won the 2007 Young Advertising Man of the Year from AAF-Hawaii, known then as the Hawaii Advertising Federation. He had just moved to San Francisco to become an account supervisor at Marketing Drive Worldwide.
Shiratori also was part of the award-winning Ad 2 Honolulu group’s efforts for years, creating local marketing campaigns for nonprofit organizations that went on to win top national honors, including the 2003 campaign for Hawaii Literacy Inc.
The deal is the second in Honolulu combining the forces of two advertising and marketing-related companies so far this year, following the merger of Olomana Marketing and Loomis-ISC in January.
Clapperton feels such consolidations, though perhaps contemplated for a variety of reasons, may develop into a trend as American companies continue to reinvent themselves to stay relevant and competitive.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
