Banyan Branch

Banyan Branch was a Seattle-based digital and social media agency founded in 2007. The leadership team included co-founders Dave Hanley and Alex Garcia, along with Alicia Hatch and Blake Cahill. Hanley, a serial entrepreneur, had prior experience in web marketing, including overseeing marketing at Shelfari, a social network for book readers acquired by Amazon, and product management at RealNetworks. His background also includes work in economic development and microcredit banking, reflecting a diverse range of interests that informed his approach to community building online.

The firm specialized in providing a comprehensive suite of digital marketing solutions to its clients, which included Fortune 500 companies like Fox, Microsoft, and Disney. The agency's core services revolved around social analytics and insights, community management, and digital creative. Banyan Branch's business model was to function as a full-service social marketing agency, developing programs that helped brands build lasting relationships with consumers on various social platforms. They aimed to provide a data-driven, scalable approach to social media, enabling large brands to achieve measurable and repeatable success.

A significant milestone for the company occurred in October 2011, when it raised $1.7 million in a Series A funding round from a group of angel investors. This capital was intended to fund a new social interactive and analytics product and to expand its media buying practice. By this time, the company had grown to about 50-60 employees. In October 2013, Deloitte acquired substantially all of the assets of Banyan Branch, integrating the team into its Deloitte Digital division. This acquisition was part of Deloitte Digital's strategy to offer a full suite of digital marketing services by combining Banyan Branch's data-driven social media expertise with Deloitte's broader business and technology capabilities. The leadership team of Hanley, Garcia, and Hatch transitioned into leadership roles within Deloitte Digital following the acquisition.

Keywords: social media agency, digital marketing, social analytics, community management, digital creative, audience engagement, Deloitte Digital, Dave Hanley, social media strategy, brand marketing, content marketing, viral marketing, social media insights, customer relationship management, digital advertising, online marketing services, social media execution, client strategy