Said Differently, an award-winning creative, strategy, and customer experience company founded in 2020, announced today that Linda Boff, who previously served as Chief Marketing Officer of GE, will become Said Differently’s next CEO as the company grows substantially following its merger with Brainvire, a global digital transformation company. Boff will lead the company alongside cofounders Rachel Barek and Brian Skahan and Brainvire’s CEO, Chintan Shah. Prior to Boff, Barek served as CEO and led the company through a period of historic growth and a majority investment from private equity firm Falfurrias Capital Partners.
Former senior agency leaders, Barek and Skahan built Said Differently to solve the simple but frequently vexing goal of how to deliver the best work for clients. By building a global talent network, Said Differently rapidly assembles and deploys precision-curated project teams laser focused on each client’s specific goals. This highly flexible model has led the agency to develop award-winning campaigns, products, and platforms for leading brands across the world.
Following Said Differently’s three years of growth since launch, Boff ’s new role as CEO – combined with the merger with Brainvire –positions the company as the first global independent team that provides an equal focus on consulting, strategy, creative, and technology, offering companies a scaled, next-generation alternative to traditional holding companies.
“Brian Skahan and I started with a blank page: we wanted to take everything we learned about the traditional agency approach and build a new model devoid of all the unnecessary complexity, rigidity, and red tape, so that every dollar and ounce of creative energy is in service of producing extraordinary work for clients. I can’t think of a better leader than Linda, who will leverage her enormous client-side experience to help us write the industry’s next chapter, marrying Said Differently’s creative approach with Brainvire’s ability to deliver comprehensive technology solutions at scale,” said Rachel Barek.
“The secret to staying ahead in our industry is to always orient toward the future,” added Linda Boff. “As someone who has had the privilege to work with many great agencies, I know that talent is the real differentiator, and I love that the Said Differently model taps the best people around the world with a systemic, highly flexible process that prizes world-class creative work. Going from one of the world’s most established brands to leading a challenger firm that’s redefining the way work gets done is the most exciting challenge I can imagine. Said Differently is simply the ‘better way’ agency I’d want to hire today, and now with Brainvire, we’re poised to offer world-class end-to-end digital transformation in one highly integrated solution.”
“When we launched Brainvire more than a decade ago, our goal was to create best-in-class technology and engineering with unbeatable value and service,” said Brainvire founder Chintan Shah. “Our core thesis hasn’t changed over the years even as the industry has evolved, and that evolution in what clients need makes us even more excited for the opportunities ahead. Bringing Brainvire and Said Differently together creates a completely modern, full-service offering that merges the technical and creative sides to deliver the most client-friendly, value-driven end-to-end solution in the market.”
According to Alexander Jutkowitz of Falfurrias Capital Partners, “We invested in Said Differently with tremendous conviction that the trend toward digitization and new models of delivering services is only just beginning to change the way companies do business. By bringing Said Differently and Brainvire together, we are creating a global, differentiated offering that will provide companies with true end-to-end digital transformation. This is a purpose-built company for the industry’s future.”
K&L Gates LLP and Khaitan & Co. served as counsel for Said Differently for this transaction. Technology Holdings was the exclusive financial advisor to Brainvire.
About Said Differently
Named one of Adweek’s fastest-growing agencies of 2023, Said Differently serves clients with highly flexible, precision-built teams and empowers strategy, creative and technology talent to do their best work. Said Differently starts with each client’s specific needs and then builds a fit-for-purpose team with the right background and experience. The result is a client-agency relationship built on agility, flexibility, and speed. Said Differently’s recent major client wins include Campari Group and Nacelle. Now with Brainvire, this global team spans 1,100 full time employees across 20 locations supported by a proprietary global talent network of more than 3,500 individuals. Said Differently has designed the industry’s “best of all worlds” model that tailors teams for each project, scaling to meet each client’s unique and evolving needs.
About Brainvire
Brainvire is a global digital transformation and engineering company of more than 1,100 employees with offices in the US, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and India. Brainvire provides software engineering solutions to a wide range of B2C and B2Bindustries. Brainvire began with an expertise in omni-channel and headless commerce and has added CMS, CRM, ERP, Mobile, and AI capabilities. In addition to full stack and bespoke software engineering, Brainvire is a certified partner with Adobe, SalesForce, and Odoo. This broad range of capabilities allows them to work seamlessly with clients to implement end-to-end digital transformation projects from foundational ERP systems, to personalized, omni-channel commerce experiences. Recent major Brainvire client wins include Panasonic, Oncor, Yokohama Tires, SITE – Saudi Information Technology Company, and Vanfire.
About Linda Boff
Heralded “one of the most innovative and forward-thinking marketers in the business,” Linda Boff is a Fortune 50 global brand builder who unlocks value at the intersection of creativity and results. As CMO for GE for the last decade, Boff most recently led the global marketing eff orts as GE separated into three independent publicly traded companies. One of the highest-ranking executives in her field, Linda is a catalyst for marketing, digital, and media transformation across the industry. Linda’s numerous awards and recognition include the Forbes CMO Hall of Fame, Adweek’s “Grand Brand Genius” and “B2B Lifetime Achievement Award.”
