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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Mar. 14, 2023 – Meridian Group, a full-service integrated marketing and communications firm, is now under the umbrella of Five Hill Capital, the parent company of WB Marketing. This month, Five Hill Capital acquired majority interest in Meridian Group from Joe Takach, the agency's founder. After 43 years in the industry, Takach is now semi-retired but will continue to serve as a consultant.
“As I step back into a consulting role to enjoy more time with my family, I know I’m leaving the agency in excellent hands and look forward to watching an already amazing team of advertising, marketing and public relations professionals further grow and serve clients in meaningful ways,” said Takach.
This acquisition joins the forces of two well-established Hampton Roads–based agencies to form the largest and most well-rounded, full-service agency serving clients in Southeast Virginia. By pooling resources and merging operations, current and new clients seeking traditional and digital advertising, marketing and public relations services will have even more access to industry professionals with decades of combined experience to help build top brands and drive results.
“I am excited to build upon the legacy of Meridian Group and bring more services, deeper insights and creative skills to the market,” said Bill Brunelle, the newly named president of Meridian Group. “We have the great fortune of working with many of the top businesses in the area and now, we have more talent and depth than anyone else to make a difference for our clients. This is one of the most exciting times in my 30+ year career, and the future has never been brighter.”
“We have transformed WB Marketing over the last few years and established ourselves as a premier digital and creative agency in the market with a passion for clients and transformation,” said Jean Matacunas, CEO of WB Marketing. “This combination enables us to bring this same passion and fun to more clients, every day.”
The combined organization will maintain both its current Norfolk and Virginia Beach offices and integrate full-service creative, digital, media, public relations, video and web development services.
Meridian Group is an advertising, public relations and digital marketing firm located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, specializing in building top brands through the Why ProcessTM. The agency has more than 40 years of experience guiding small and large companies and organizations to become leaders in their respective categories. Meridian Group serves more than 25 clients including STIHL Inc., the City of Virginia Beach, The Breeden Company, The Chrysler Museum of Art, Hilton Norfolk The MAIN, Waterside District, Plasser American, Smithfield Foods, ACCESS College Foundation and New Ravenna. For more information, visit themeridiangroup.com.
With more than 60 years of experience, WB Marketing was established in 1960 as a full-service agency serving the Hampton Roads area. Originally called Waters Advertising, then Top Line Marketing dba Waters & Bridgman Marketing Solutions before being acquired in 2020 by Five Hill Capital, WB Marketing provides award-winning creative, branding, graphic design, digital marketing, web design and development, traditional media and print advertising, video production, SEO and more. The agency serves more than 30 clients including the City of Norfolk, Virginia Health Services, The Breeden Company, the City of Manassas, Virginia Opera, SPAR, Peninsula Funeral Home, Bryan Ramsey Design and Carmines, Robbins and Company. For more information, visit WBmarketing.com.
Five Hill Capital is a private investment firm that invests flexible, long-term capital in partnership with industry executives to help companies accelerate growth and maximize potential. For more information, visit fivehillcapital.com.
Your website should communicate who you are, what you offer and how you can help. It should also reinforce your brand and the culture of your organization. Our expertise in designing, developing, managing and hosting websites can make the difference.
While digital marketing tools are essential to almost every business, traditional media is still an important part of a business marketing and advertising plan. We have deep expertise in print design, ad creation, video production, radio spots and negotiating the best rates and placement for our clients.
Creating a brand is more than designing a logo or an impressive business card. Your brand must convey the way a customer feels when they interact with you, buy your product or use your services. To do help you define your brand, we listen to what makes you different, we assess the landscape, define your future position and we create logos, tags, content, messaging and more to inspire the market to action.
We are an official Google Partner. This elite stepping stone has brought pride and recognition to our agency from our clients and peers. It’s given us the right to categorize ourselves as advertising experts on one of the most powerful online platforms. And while it showcases a reliable source of validation and trust, we find ourselves asking, “Do our clients truly know the benefits gained from working with a Google Partner agency?”
Being a Google Partner signifies that a company has multiple employees who are certified in Google AdWords, continuously meet Google’s performance standards, show growth in client base, and participate in ongoing trainings.
While we understand the above benefits are easy to describe, WB Marketing can also prove them.
A good working relationship takes a lot of patience, listening ability and an in-depth understanding of how to market the product. Our relationship with WB Marketing has all this and more!
The team at WB Marketing is simply superb. They have been our agency of choice for many years and we could not be happier with their work. They truly understand our needs, they are always prepared, and always recommend what is best for us and our clients. I am impressed with their dedication and management of our account. The entire team is a pleasure to work with.
I work regularly with WB on a wide variety of my business ventures and non-profit entities. WB created the branding, advertising, websites and several special events for us. I continue to throw any number of challenges at them. They always come through like the creative professionals they are.
We’ve been working with WB Marketing for many years WB has been our marketing partner throughout [our] expansions and has undoubtedly been a major factor in our growth. They are extremely responsive to our needs and are always a pleasure to do business with.
