From a tiny San Francisco boutique Muhtayzik-Hoffer to global digital agency Profero, these 10 shops are worth your attention in 2012.

BFG9000

When Kayak called up Gerry Graf's new firm, it had a big problem: Not enough people knew the difference between the travel website and a human-powered boat. So to pump up awareness, the agency went bold. It crafted a campaign that, through dark and humorous copywriting, basically suggests consumers are downright stupid if they aren't using Kayak when searching for travel options. The tone is no surprise, as Mr. Graf, who launched the agency a little over a year ago, is a master at being funny. (One look at the agency's blog and you'll get what we mean.) But BFG9000 also delivers results: By June 2011, Kayak's awareness levels had increased to 62% from 28%. The agency grew, too, now with 25 employees, who came from Wieden & Kennedy, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Google Creative Lab. For Dish Network, an account it picked up after a review in which it beat established competitors such as CP&B, it helped the suffering brand see a shift of 24% more people believing Dish to be "likable" and "offering a variety of content." It's just a matter of time before more clients come calling.

Rokkan

This 50-person New York digital boutique nearly doubled revenue last year and picked up digital agency-of-record relationships with brands like JetBlue and Stoli vodka. Even with the small staff, the agency, led by CEO-cofounder John Noe, manages to span a range of digital work from media to e-commerce to social media. It was named the social-media agency for shopping channel QVC and will advise strategy for Chipotle's online sales. Rokkan helped create Mitchum's Hardest-Working Person in America campaign, which canvassed for consumer videos and let communities vote to give someone the honor. The effort contributed to the brand's largest sales increase in more than two years. With a New York ZIP code and a tendency toward designing digital properties and websites that endure, Rokkan will likely follow in the steps of other boutiques and A-Listers, like Firstborn and Huge.

La Comunidad

Owned by Argentine brothers Jose and Joaquin Molla, and former MTV executive Antoinette Zel -- whom they call their "adopted sister" -- independent La Comunidad mixes U.S. Hispanic, general-market and international business. Apple called to ask for some Latin American work, then made La Comunidad its ...

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