The&Partnership Expands to West Coast With LA Office

It may seem strange for an established agency to open a new office when its employees will still be working remotely, but with vaccine distribution well underway, The&Partnership decided the time was right to invest in future growth. The agency is opening a new Los Angeles office to work with a growing roster of West Coast clients, including gaming company EA and gummy vitamin brand Olly, and pursue new business opportunities. The&Partnership CEO, North America Andrew Bailey told Adweek the decision to open the office was also influenced by a Southern California-based creative account the agency recently won but has yet to announce. The Playa Vista office will house the operations of both The&Partnership and its media arm, m/SIX, which is jointly owned with WPP's GroupM. The&Partnership hired Shabnum Palomba to lead the office as managing director for m/SIX responsible for overseeing both the m/SIX and The&Partnership teams in L.A. Palomba joins the agency after more than a decade at AKQA, which WPP recently merged with Grey to form AKQA Group. She was most recently a client partner at AKQA, overseeing media and strategy teams across accounts including AB InBev, Clif Bar, Visa, Wynn Las Vegas and YouTube. Bailey cited Palomba's background working with integrated creative and media teams during her tenure at AKQA, giving her an understanding of how to get the two disciplines to work in harmony in support of client interests, as a driving factor in the appointment. "We've also had the opportunity to work with Shab over the past year on some joint projects so we got to know what a great leader she is, and she had a chance to learn our way of working," Bailey added. "It was apparent that she was a natural fit for our culture and what we've been building at The&Partnership, so it became an intuitive decision to bring her on board." In a statement, Palomba said The&Partnership and m/SIX have excelled at building new engagement models across disciplines for clients and that she was excited to grow the agency's West Coast operations and client base. The office will launch with a staff of seven employees, who are currently working remotely. It is set to open officially once it is deemed safe to resume in-person operations. The&Partnership's decision to open the office now reflects its commitment to the physical office as a hub for creativity and community, according to the agency. While predominantly virtual, The&Partnership's New York office is currently open to employees on a voluntary basis (subject to health and social distancing protocols), and Bailey told Adweek the positive response has been inspiring. "The role of the physical office is definitely going to change. There is a lot that people have found they really love about remote work, from spending more time with their families to eliminating their commutes. That being said, we think that close, in-person collaboration is a critical ingredient in inspiring great creativity, and having a space for that is very important to us," Bailey said. Bailey explained that The&Partnership planned for a hybrid work approach, utilizing the office as a space for culture building, creative collaboration and socializing while providing its talent with the flexibility to work remotely as well. "To help support this, we're investing in some new tech tools that expand the possibilities of how our remote teams engage with each other and with people in the office," he said, including smart, tracking cameras in conference rooms that automatically switch to whoever is talking and interactive white boards allowing employees in the office and those working remotely to collaborate on the same board in real time. In addition to the recent creative account win, Bailey said The&Partnership is involved in a number of reviews for West Coast clients. "Bigger picture, we think there are a lot of great brands and potential new business opportunities both in Southern California and the Bay Area," he said. "Having this new West Coast presence provides a strong platform for us to more directly engage with these marketers."

The Future of Agencies

The&Partnership Expands to West Coast With LA Office

Former AKQA exec Shabnum Palomba will lead the office

Erik Oster

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Erik Oster