McGarrah/Jessee, a full-service consumer brand-building company founded in 1996 will be charged with helping Costa Del Mar grow its brand through traditional, interactive/digital and experiential advertising and marketing. The relationship will include account planning, media planning and buying and all creative duties.

"We talked with top creative agencies, but after seeing the work and meeting the people at McGarrah/Jessee, it was clear they are the people who can help us grow from our core while staying true to our heritage, personality and relationship with our customers.," said Al Perkinson, vice president for marketing at Costa Del Mar. "There is an authenticity in their work that is absolutely vital to a brand like ours."

Costa Del Mar was founded in 1983 by a group of active salt-water fishermen, outdoorsmen and adventurers who were not satisfied with the performance of sunglasses then on the market. So they started to make their own, quickly developing a reputation for quality and advanced lens technology. Soon fans like the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, America's Cup sailing teams the Cousteau Society and legions of boaters and fisherman were swearing by their Costas.

That reputation spread from water-sports professionals and enthusiasts to other outdoor activists and now to a growing number of people who see having the best quality glasses as necessary equipment for any outside activity. You'll find them everywhere from beaches to the top of Mt. Everest. They now offer fashionable, performance-based glasses in over 1,500 frame and lens combinations, all still hand-made just down the road from where the company was founded in Ormond Beach.

"Our agency is built around the idea of enveloping a brand and widening its story across all platforms, so we have to be careful to be sure we work for brands that have an genuine story to tell," said agency co-founder Bryan Jessee. "Costa Del Mar is a home run in that regard; it's the real deal."