Barbarian Invasion

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In early 2002, Wieden + Kennedy’s Katie Shields found herself driving a rental car through inner-city Boston, searching for the signless street in Roxbury where The Barbarian Group resided. “I started getting a little nervous, thinking, ‘What am I getting myself into?’ ” recalls the executive senior producer.

When she arrived, she found Barbarian co-founder and president Benjamin Palmer and his colleagues straightening up Palmer’s loft—the startup’s headquarters—as if preparing to impress a date. In a way, they were.

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