# O'Leary and Partners

> O'Leary and Partners was a Newport Beach independent advertising agency founded by Steve O'Leary in 1983. It combined brand strategy, creative, research, digital, social and local-market execution for consumer and B2B clients, with particular strength in brands sold through franchises, dealers and other distributed networks. The Shipyard acquired the agency in February 2016 and immediately absorbed its name, adding O'Leary's offline creative and local-market expertise to a broader national operation.

- **Founded:** 1983
- **Headquarters:** Newport Beach, United States
- **Founders:** Steve O'Leary (Founder)
- **Team size:** 32 employees in the supplied commercial dataset; LinkedIn lists a historical company-size band of 51-200. The combined Shipyard organization reported 160 employees after the 2016 acquisitions.
- **Products:** Branding and marketing strategy, Integrated advertising, Digital, social and interactive media, Distributed-channel marketing, Research
- **Notable:** Operated independently for 33 years before its 2016 acquisition., Built a public portfolio of at least 18 campaigns archived by Ads of the World., Won WD-40's estimated $15 million advertising account in 2005.

## Products & services

- **Branding and marketing strategy** — Research, positioning and strategic guidance for consumer and B2B brands.
- **Integrated advertising** — Creative development across television, radio, print, outdoor and point-of-sale media.
- **Digital, social and interactive media** — Online campaigns, social programs, interactive formats and digital in-store experiences.
- **Distributed-channel marketing** — National-to-local programs for brands sold through dealers, agents, franchises and local operating units.
- **Research** — Customer and market research used to guide brand and campaign decisions.

## Achievements

- Operated independently for 33 years before its 2016 acquisition.
- Built a public portfolio of at least 18 campaigns archived by Ads of the World.
- Won WD-40's estimated $15 million advertising account in 2005.
- Created Wetzel's Pretzels animated digital menu content across a 12-foot-wide, three-screen format.
- Brought a client roster including In-N-Out Burger, WD-40, Bimbo Bakeries' Oroweat, Fantastic Sams and CO-OP Financial Services into The Shipyard combination.
- Developed a specialty in marketing for distributed networks such as franchises, dealers, agents and local operating units.

## Latest updates

- **2016-02** — The Shipyard acquired O'Leary and Partners and Revolocity; O'Leary changed its name to The Shipyard immediately, and Steve O'Leary became vice-chairman of the combined enterprise.
- **2015-02** — The agency's 12-foot-wide animated digital menu-board films for Wetzel's Pretzels were published, following a rollout that began at Downtown Disney.
- **2014-09** — O'Leary published the four-part outdoor campaign 'Stick, De nada, Whales, Trap' for Lobster ME.

## Links

- Website: http://www.olearyandpartners.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/o%27leary-and-partners
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/olearypartners
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/olearyandpartners

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Last updated: 2026-09-16