Creative Agency Eleven Finds Purpose in a New Direction—and a Pause

Now, Eleven is bringing on three new executives, naming Kristina Jenkins as chief strategy officer, Juliette Geraghty as executive creative director and Andrea Ogunbadejo as head of production. 

It’s part of an ongoing overhaul that Eleven president Courtney Buechert set in motion—one that looks to change the face of not only the agency but to help make the industry more purpose-driven by concentrating on employee needs and being more empathetic.

“I felt like during the interview and recruiting process that I was joining a movement instead of an agency,” Geraghty told Adweek. “As we arrived together in this transformational movement, I now feel that absolutely what we are doing together is really trying to bring upon fundamental change at Eleven, but also with our client partners and as an industry.”

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What Buechert and the executive team at Eleven have done is reorganized the leadership to make for a better work environment, one that is collaborative, addresses diversity at every level, puts everyone on equal footing in the creative process and one that is conscious of the needs of its employees, from mental health to occasionally hitting the “pause button”—more on that later.

Jenkins comes from strategy positions at Cashmere, Zambezi and mcgarrybowen, working with brands including Disney, Google, HBO, Instagram, Hulu, Taco Bell, Venmo, Reebok, Verizon and Marriott. She has been a guest speaker at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter, The Marcus Graham Project, Miami Ad School and The One Club for Creativity. 

Each new team member adds something to the Eleven mix, from Jenkins’ expertise in strategy and culture to Geraghty’s sense of creative collaboration and Ogunbadejo’s desire to have production be a vital part of the creative process.

Geraghty landed her first agency role at Digitas, then went on to Rauxa, Magnani Caruso Dutton, VaynerMedia, Ticketmaster and most recently as group creative director at Cashmere. She has collaborated with brands including AT&T, Disney, Hulu, Live Nation, OPI and WarnerMedia to tell powerful and inclusive stories. She also earned a spot on Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative Women in Advertising.

British-born Ogunbadejo built her career on a foundation of cinema at film school, worked on independent features, shorts and scripted TV for the BBC, Netflix, Sky, NBC and Syfy, then made the transition to advertising. Landing at VaynerMedia London, she established and led the agency production department and in-house content studio. She has delivered global campaigns for TikTok, 7UP, Unicef, Shell, Stella Artois and Johnson & Johnson. She also led DEI efforts for VaynerMedia London and worked toward net zero carbon emissions on all productions.

All agree the agency world needs to evolve to stay vital, and agencies must address the Great Resignation head-on.

“Let’s not forget how many people have abandoned this industry. It’s alarming to see how much wonderful young talent is leaving. Courtney and his team were ahead of that and seeing that happening already,” said Geraghty.

Eleven has been around almost 23 years and Buechert has been there for more than 15 of them. A reason for that longevity is a willingness to meet the moment.

“Over the last two, three years, we have recognized that we were in a moment where we had great success by most of the standards of our industry—fame, acclaim, awards, accounts and growth—but the world is changing underneath us. And creativity is actually finding a whole new life and a new energy outside of the walls of an agency,” Buechert told Adweek, adding that customers are now creators as well—and there’s an opportunity to embrace that.

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Hitting the pause button

Part of embracing the changing face of creativity is also acknowledging wellness for both employees and clients—and that means hitting the pause button.

Buechert said all the new people Eleven has brought on are “ferocious about the fact that creativity is not something that you harvest and deplete and then dispose of. One of the biggest failures of our industry is to not recognize that creativity can continue to give and grow and become new things if—and only if—it’s replenished.”

That’s why wellness is so important to the agency in creating an environment where people do their best work to advance the clients’ agenda and leave a positive impact on the world, Buechert added.

The pause button extends to clients as well, and Eleven gives them the permission to stop, reflect, dream and discover new things about themselves, rather than always traveling at a million miles a minute.

“They have to operate in a way that’s going to enable all of us to create this future together,” said Geraghty.

The pause button also allows time for the organizations to pay attention to what’s going on in the world and culture and how they can be of service. It also lets businesses get to know their talent, find out what they’re passionate about and think how they can be better leaders.

“[We’re] thinking about how we can be more vulnerable, more curious, more open, more empathetic, more collaborative. So yeah, that pause button is very powerful. A lot happens in that moment of pause,” Jenkins said.

Being a good creative partner means adding something unique to the client experience, and for Eleven that means looking out for its clients, adding passion, curiosity and those needed moments to reflect.

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