Initiative Is Adweek's Global Media Agency of the Year

Much like management consultants lean on tried-and-true project frameworks to solve problems, so does the IPG Mediabrands agency Initiative. For several years, agency leaders called the agency's go-to approach Cultural Velocity. Last year, after elevating performance media expert Dimitri Maex to the global CEO role, Initiative rolled out a new, modified framework that replaced Cultural Velocity. The new concept, called Fame and Flow, helped secure the $450 million global Nike business. Cultural Velocity and Fame and Flow are abstract, but clearly resonate with clients seeking to master the concepts. Media agencies are brand stewards, but aren’t typically very good at branding themselves. Initiative, with its appealing frameworks, might be an exception. The Nike pitch came hot on the heels of Initiative’s $1.2 billion T-Mobile win in 2021. (“What was really compelling is the the mental push that they put on us,” said Kari Marshall, vp of media for T-Mobile. “It wasn’t about necessarily the buying power, which of course they had as a big agency, but really the mental push on strategically thinking about how to problem solve that was really interesting.“) It was on a winning streak, adding other significant brands to its roster, including Intuit ($180 million) and Ring ($100 million). Multiple global wins distinguished it from its agency peers, both within its holding company and the broader market. It all culminated in Initiative securing the top spot on COMvergence’s annual new business rankings list. Many factors contribute to new business wins—the way the agency markets itself, the amount of money it invests in presentation and the team it brings to the pitch—none of which prove the agency can or will do a good job. But Initiative kept all its clients last year, and the year before—even those up for review. Retaining every client Initiative expanded its relationship with AWS, securing the brand’s $200 million global digital business. It also retained Merck and Teva Pharmaceuticals globally, and Liberty Mutual in the U.S., tightening its hold on more than $1 billion in billings that could have gone elsewhere. It’s unusual, given how many defending incumbents wind up losing the business, plus whatever money they invested in defending. Initiative doesn’t just chase new accounts; it also nurtures and expands existing ones while leaning into frameworks like Fame and Flow, making it Adweek’s 2023 Global Media Agency of the Year. “We won a lot of business, but we outperformed every other agency on the defenses, which makes me super happy. It means that our clients are happy to stay with us,” said Maex. The wins and successful client retention stoked Initiative’s 2022 growth—up 26% in the U.S. and 19.3% globally from 2021. Revenue increased by 33%, and billings grew by 44% as Initiative expanded its Amazon Prime Video account in the MENA region and grew the AWS online media business across the U.S., EMEA, APAC, Canada and LATAM markets. After Maex took the top job, he brought Jonathan Rigby from Reprise Digital along with him as global chief strategy officer of Initiative. Paolo Sarno, global chief growth officer, and Melissa Gordon-Ring, global president, health, also joined from IPG Mediabrands and Starcom, respectively. The leadership moves signaled a new commitment to scaling performance media and commerce chops globally and turned out to be the crucial ingredient the agency needed. Sarno led the Nike pitch, while Gordon-Ring now serves the Merck and Teva Pharmaceuticals businesses. Key campaigns: Amazon Prime VideoTo increase Season 3 viewership for Amazon Prime Video's series The Boys, Initiative was challenged with creating a winning campaign for the TV-MA show. “It's a really edgy show. It's culturally subversive, and we wanted the media to feel like that too,” said Sarah Robertson, global president of Initiative’s dedicated Amazon agency, Rufus. Initiative took a subversive approach that reengaged the existing fan base and intrigued new viewers, as opposed to one rooted in traditional entertainment marketing. The agency aired a series of NSFW trailers after 10 p.m. and events that included a NSFW Las Vegas party showcasing 3D-printed dildos. “The content pushes the envelope, and that gave us permission to do the same with the media,” Robertson said. The campaign had global reach. Easter-egg-filled Twitch spots premiered in Brazil, while a Spotify quiz for Canadian viewers matched them with the show character they’re most like. With collective efforts from the entire Prime Video cross-functional teams, the campaign catapulted the third season to become Amazon Prime Video's most-watched show, as The Boys’ worldwide viewership grew 17% from Season 2, and 234% from Season 1. Gilead SciencesFor its pharmaceutical client Gilead Sciences, Initiative turned its attention to HIV testing consideration in the South, where 51% of all new HIV cases occur. Initiative and Gilead targeted Black and Latinx communities across 11 Southern markets with low HIV testing rates to provide resources to men who have sex with men (MSMs) in those locales. The agency's audience insights established MSMs find comfort in sharing their experiences, but contend with a persistent fear of stigma. Given this, Initiative had to reach the MSM community discreetly, but effectively. It produced a hyper-local, Gilead-sponsored podcast series hosted by Zach Stafford called In The Deep, showcasing stories of people living with HIV. The agency partnered with iHeartRadio to advertise the podcast within a custom newsletter and digital, social and radio placements. The series received 444,000 downloads and had a 75% completion rate. It also drove real-life change. Its target audiences made 48,153 sexual health visits and took a combined 8,000 HIV tests, results that more than doubled Initiative's goal. ItaúThe Argentina bank Itaú wielded a relatively small budget compared to other large financial institutions it competed with. Despite this, it endeavored to attract 200,000 new Gen Z customers. To do it, it brought banking to where its customers already were. Young Argentinians, Initiative estimated, spend an average of 9 hours every day on WhatsApp. To take advantage of that, Itaú integrated its digital banking solution with the social media app. To help the bank convert the Gen Z audience, Initiative created custom content for the MTV Millennial Awards. It enlisted TikTok and Twitch influencers to reach young consumers—many who’d never banked before. The campaign surpassed Initiative’s goal by five times, driving a million new accounts and increasing Itaú’s perception as an innovative bank by 31 points. Fame and Flow: Global scale and DTC for Nike Agency holding companies vied for 10 months to win what was perhaps 2022’s most high-profile media pitch: Nike’s $450 million global business. The account had been at the top of Initiative’s “wish list” since 2017, according to Maex. As far as he was concerned, Nike was a perfect match for Initiative. No other brand had as much inherent Cultural Velocity. Cultural Velocity happens when a brand's ideals and influence shape culture. A brand can achieve Cultural Velocity by prompting societal change, rather than responding to it. The agency even published a book about the concept, authored by Initiative's former global chief strategy officer, Stefan Burford, and Wharton professor Jonah Berger. As Burford and Berger wrote in the book, Nike achieved Cultural Velocity with its "Dream Crazy" spot featuring Colin Kaepernick. The review was competitive: Nike had been working with GroupM agency Mindshare for almost a decade before the review, and it was the retailer's media agency when it launched "Dream Crazy." Then, the brief arrived, surprising Maex. “It was a little bit of Cultural Velocity, but a lot of DTC,” he recalled. “We had to change our formula a little bit.” Nike required a fully integrated media approach, ensuring earned, shared and paid channel strategies coalesced, instead of operating in silos. While the concept sounds intuitive, it is a complex challenge for a blue-chip brand spending millions on global marketing. Initiative responded to the brief with an integrated organizational model called Blue Stream, which hinged on deep knowledge of performance media and commerce. Blue Stream taps into other Mediabrands agencies—namely, its Reprise Digital commerce unit (which Maex and his team previously led) and its Kinesso data arm. It’s one example of how holding companies increasingly consolidate their offerings to deliver more to those clients seeking a one-stop shop with scale. “You obviously have Initiative as a front door agency, and that's why we call it Blue Stream. But the trick has been to really integrate the capabilities of Reprise,” Maex said. It invested a lot of energy to make the integrated workflow seamless, the CEO told Adweek, including investing in process mapping and tapping external consultants. To account for Nike’s two-pronged need, Initiative developed Fame and Flow. Fame, synonymous with traditional brand marketing, amplifies the brand’s salience and reach, making its benefits obvious to consumers. The agency can achieve it by making a project go viral or become difficult to forget. Flow, synonymous with integrated performance marketing, is about “the movement of people across the path to purchase and how you use experience design, media content—whatever the right mix is—to help with that,” Maex said. A Fame and Flow approach means Nike’s brand and performance marketing initiatives operate together, and seamlessly. “I come from a performance background, and performance marketing done well uses creativity, uses utility; it removes friction from the entire customer experience,” Maex said. Internal metrics indicate progress Initiative’s framework-oriented approach extends beyond the client work. The agency either has a framework or tool in place for any task, or else it will build one. Key wins: 111 new accounts and 13 retentions, including Nike, AWS, Intuit, Ring, European Parliament, ING, Ledger, ONCE, HelloFresh, EnergyAustralia, Luminus, Liberty Mutual (retention), Teva (retention) and Merck (retention), Destination Canada (retention and expansion), Travel Alberta (retention) Losses: None Strategic moves: The agency hired strategically, tapping an executive team from IPG Mediabrands’ performance marketing agency, Reprise Digital. It revamped its custom approach to client work, shedding its Cultural Velocity strategy for a new strategy called Fame and Flow. It also embraced a group-led strategy in some instances, tapping sister companies Reprise Digital and Kinesso to craft custom solutions for companies like Nike. Revenue: Initiative declined to reveal its revenue, but saw a 33% increase from 2021. DEI: Initiative’s employee makeup is impressive relative to competitors. The numbers tell the story, which shows particularly strong gender equity: In the U.S., 65% of employees are women. They make up 61% of the creative department, 49% of staff at the management level and 64% of the executive team. Its commitment to hiring employees of color is also evident. Since 2020, Initiative's BIPOC talent has grown by 18% in the U.S., and last year, BIPOC accounted for more than half of new talent hired in the U.S. One project currently in development will help Initiative vet prospective clients’ climate impact and avoid those that don’t meet its standards. Agencies that entertain relationships with fossil fuel clients face scrutiny, prompting many to reassess the brands they engage with. Another tool set to launch soon will calculate any ad’s carbon emissions to keep media planners aware of their campaign strategies’ environmental impact. “The clients are looking for guidance on where to show up, and the right partners. We've created frameworks bespoke to key clients with the hope that it will be common practice for all of our clients, as we help guide them on the DEI journey that they're going through,” said Pele Cortizo-Burgess, Initiative’s chief culture and inclusion officer. The agency maintains its Media Responsibility Index (MRI)—a database cataloging more than 200 media partners—which integrates with Initiative’s global channel planning tool, Ripple. That, alongside another bespoke tool, Balance, helps planners redistribute campaign investments in diverse-owned channels, or invest in partners that can help them achieve sustainability goals. “Every decision that you make within media can either close a gap or widen one,” Cortizo-Burgess said. Initiative’s encouraging internal metrics indicate progress toward closing gaps. Its workforce is 65% female, comprising 61% of its creative department. Since 2020, it’s grown BIPOC talent by 18% in the U.S. and increased female representation by 10% at the global executive level and by 43% within its U.S. creative function. Its U.S. executive leadership team is 64% women and 36% men. Last year, talent identifying as BIPOC accounted for half of the agency’s U.S. hires. Unusual recruitment campaigns also aided the agency. Initiative welcomed friends to apply to work at the agency together, launching recruitment campaigns called “You + a Friend '' and “Getting the Band Back Together.” “We launched on Valentine’s Day. Get it?” Cortizo-Burgess said. Of the 362 people that applied for open positions, Initiative hired five pairs of work "besties." Underpinning its uniquely diverse workforce and recruitment strategy is Initiative's low 17% global attrition rate. Compared to the advertising industry's average rate of about 30%, it backs up an assumption that should be intuitive to more agencies: Happier employees lead to bigger wins. Be sure to check out Adweek's Media Agency of the Year honorees in the U.S. and Breakthrough categories.

Media Agency of the Year

Global Media Agency of the Year Initiative Masters Fame and Flow

Landing Nike’s global business and expanding its Amazon relationship distinguished the IPG Mediabrands agency from rivals

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Olivia Morley

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