5th business® Group of agencies (5thbusiness.com) has acquired Richmond-based Golden Word (goldenword.co), a lifestyle-brand-focused PR and social media agency, as part of its center-of-excellence strategy. Golden Word, founded in 2016 by Elisabeth Edelman, has been growing its client roster with food and beverage, home décor, hospitality, retail and e-commerce brands across the United States. The agency’s successful campaigns for notable clients including Garden & Gun, Duke’s Mayonnaise and Shades of Light have supported it being named the 16th fastest growing company in Richmond in 2023 by Richmond BizSense.
“Clients of marketing and advertising services are increasingly looking for specialized expertise from their agencies, including extensive category experience”, says 5th business Group CEO, Stuart Lewis. “Golden Word has a unique and very personal approach to delivering clients real value, one which we’re looking forward to supporting further. Golden Word can now also provide a seamless extension of services through our unified group of specialized agencies.”
Edelman comments, “5th business’ values and vision for Golden Word really aligned with our approach to creating meaningful human connections between consumers and our clients’ brands. We’re excited about the additional resources and expertise that we can bring to our clients as we help them grow their brands and achieve greater potential.”
Golden Word will retain its brand, Richmond location and its employees. Jennifer Salo was appointed Managing Director of Golden Word on March 1, 2024, having been with 5th business Group since 2017. Salo states “We will continue Golden Word’s focus on business categories where we have specialized expertise. Where appropriate we will also provide seamless additional marketing solutions through our group of agencies to support our clients’ objectives.”
5th business Group of agencies, who are based in Toronto, also includes marketing strategy and creative house, Clever Samurai and B2B lead generation company 360 Leads. 5th business has plans for further acquisitions of specialized agencies in the PR and social space to complement its offering.