Liquid Agency, a brand consulting and activation company headquartered in San Jose, California, has acquired Dallas-based employment branding agency MindHandle. The move builds on Liquid Agency’s recent momentum in optimizing and aligning employee, customer and brand experience (Ex, Cx and Bx) among their service offerings. Liquid Agency’s current and former client experience includes Walmart, Nasdaq, Google, UGG, Nike, Nordstrom, Microsoft, GE, Silicon Valley Bank, John Deere and Ernest Packaging Solutions.
Established in 2010, MindHandle is an employee communications agency that helps companies attract and retain talent in large, distributed workforces. MindHandle’s work has led to finding and celebrating brand champions—individuals who are the best versions of themselves at work because they care deeply about the culture. The agency’s perspective on “brand magnetism” centers on aligning consumers’ and employees’ systems of belief to drive success. According to MindHandle CEO Eric Harris, “The world’s greatest brands don’t just tell us what to do and what to buy. They remind us who we really are. That awakening shouldn’t be limited to our experiences as consumers. That should happen at work, where we spend a third of our lives!” Conversely, MindHandle believes lack of alignment between customer and employee values often leads to brand struggles.
These same priorities mirror the pillars of Liquid Agency’s work in aligning Ex, Cx and Bx, and Liquid sees this approach as especially critical in today’s corporate environment. CEO Scott Gardner notes, “With the ever-changing landscape of how employers need to pivot post-pandemic to remain competitive, Liquid Agency’s employee experience and culture practice is currently our area of the greatest growth and demand.” He continues: “Joining forces with MindHandle, a pure-play employee experience agency, allows us to add scale and fresh ideas for the future.”
Integrating MindHandle’s approach and expertise builds on Liquid Agency’s leading position as a comprehensive consultancy. Together with select leadership from MindHandle, Liquid Agency will help more brands actualize themselves through robust, flexible Ex aligned fully with Cx and Bx.
Harris will join Liquid Agency as practice lead for employee experience to further shape and grow this key area of focus and importance for Liquid and their clients.” Harris adds, “This is a dream for MindHandle because we’ve always taken pride in building brands from the inside out.
With the Liquid Agency team, we’ll be better able to support our clients across the entire spectrum of branding, from employee to customer experience.”
Gardner also noted how valuable MindHandle’s client-specific expertise is: “Gaining a rich portfolio of staff experience from brands like TopGolf, Callaway, Frost Bank, Texas Health, Nothing Bundt Cakes and True Food Kitchen simply broadens our industry expertise and provides access to companies in the South-Central U.S. region.” Moving forward, Liquid Agency is positioned to build on these relationships and integrate insights across its client base.
Liquid Agency has grown through strategic acquisitions for the past 20 years. Most recently, Liquid Agency acquired employee experience company Vignette in February 2020, establishing the foundation for further advancements in Ex alongside growth in and between Cx and Bx.
