3. WE’RE ON A MISSION TO BE THE WORLD’S MOST INNOVATIVE
AND CREATIVE AGENCY IN THE WORLD
2012
2013
01WIEDEN+KENNEDY
02KRAFT
03FORD
04MULLEN
05VIVAKI
06GOOGLECREATIVELAB
07HORIZONMEDIA
08GREYNY
09360i
10BBDO
ADVERTISING
&MARKETING
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JANUARY 10, 2011
I BY MICHAEL BUSH mbush@adage.com
agencies spend a ton of time thinking about their
client’s brands and comparatively a lot less on their
own.But with the proliferation of new agency mod-
els and the sheer number of choices out there for a
marketer today, it’s never been more important for
the shops themselves to have a meaningful identity.
For Mullen, its new “Unbound” philosophy has
been the underpinning of its recent success, largely
because—unlike some of the trendier taglines
adopted by other agencies—it’s not trying too hard.
The philosophy simply rings true to the shop’s his-
tory of never being bound by the traditional separa-
tion of media and creative services. And, judging by
the increasing number of clients who want media
and creative services housed under a single roof,
Mullen’s decision to make its bundled model well-
known is a smart way to go.
“I understand why people want unbundled, but
we think we get better work hanging it all together,”
said Marty St.George,seniorVP-marketing of com-
mercial strategy at JetBlue. “We are a small spender
in our category so every dollar we spend has to carry
the weight of three to four dollars and integration is
the way to do that.”
When Mullen last year scored JetBlue’s creative
and media account after a highly competitive pitch,
it was a confirmation that its late 2009 win of cus-
tomer-favorite Zappos account wasn’t a fluke.
Mullen had successfully evolved its reputation from
a safe choice for marketers into a contemporary,for-
ward-thinking shop valued by challenger brands.
“Our prior campaigns didn’t recognize the human
side of the business, they were cute and funny but
missing something,” said Mr. St. George. Now, “we
love the fact that the videos are well-pointed at the ad-
vantages of JetBlue vs.our competitors.” Launched in
October, The You Above All campaign included a
YouTube home-page takeover and the launch of a Jet-
Blue branded channel that featured videos depicting
real consumers in real situations being deprived of
basic services.
“This is all an amalgamation of things and part
of a larger plan we set in motion years ago,” said Joe
Grimaldi, CEO/president of the Interpublic Group
of Cos.’-owned shop. He led a daunting cultural
overhaul within the agency, moving headquarters
from a beautiful mansion in the rolling hills of Mas-
sachusetts into downtown Boston.
“Moving to Boston was simply the best thing we
have ever done,” said CEO Joe Grimaldi.“It trans-
formed the mind-set of the agency into a company
and workspace that supported a high-collision en-
vironment that could give birth to new cutting-edge
ideas. It’s also driven talent in our direction.”
AGENCYA-LIST
In 2010, the agency increased revenue 24% while
expanding its workforce by hiring 187 new people.The
clients Mullen added to its roster last year were as di-
verse as the assignments it landed. The agency was
named creative and media accountlead for JetBlue;cre-
ative lead for Alberto Culver’s Tresemmé; direct re-
sponseagencyofrecordforQwest;PRandsocialmedia
agency lead for Century 21 and creative agency of
record for Foxwoods Resorts & Casino.
But Mullen’s Boston office wasn’t the only bright
spot for the agency. It was the North Carolina office
that won Tresemmé, along with its Men’s Warehouse
accounts;its Pittsburghbureauwona projectfrom Un-
derArmour for the brand’s outdoor products group
and,working with theAmerican DiabetesAssociation,
convinced one million Americans to join its “Stop Di-
abetes” Movement.
Mark Huggins,executive director of brand market-
ing for Olympus ImagingAmerica,said his company’s
relationship with Mullen began 10 years ago when the
agency was managing its PR account. After letting
Mullen run creative duties on a couple of campaigns
the relationship expanded.
“Mullen does a great job handling a fully integrated
campaign,” Mr. Huggins said.
Here’s whatit’s doing:Mullendeveloped a soup-to-
nuts effort for the Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera to en-
gage fans of Olympus through a series of media
activations.The push includedTV spots,an ad inWired
magazine’s iPad edition and an augmented reality
demo of the camera, all aimed at getting social-media
attention. Mullen’s idea also included shooting all as-
pects of the campaign with the camera.
Theresulthelpeddrivesalesofthecamerafarbeyond
expectations and generated hundreds of millions of PR
impressions, and hundreds of thousands of visits and
pageviewstotheaugmentedrealitydemonstrationsite.
Mullen’s senior execs believe that this is just the
first step of a bigger evolution for Mullen.“I’d like to
see us attract some more hundred-million-dollar,
high-profile brands,” said Alex Leikikh, managing
partner and director of account service. “We’re just
writing chapter one of a significantly long book.”
MarketerssuchasJetBlueandZappos,lookingfor
bangfortheirbuck,findtheagency’sbundlingof
creativeandmediatheperfectfitfortheirneeds
MULLEN
3
74410
Posted with permission from the January 10, 2011 issue of Advertising Age ® www.ADAGE.com, Copyright 2011. Crain Communications. All rights reserved.
For more information on the use of this content, contact Wright's Media at 877-652-5295.
Mullen’s multi-office team (left to right): Jason Black, Dave Popelka, Mark Wenneker, Alex Leikikh,
Sheila Leyne, Brian Bronaugh, John Fitzgerald, John Moore, Stephen Larkin
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JANUARY 10, 2011
I BY MICHAEL BUSH mbush@adage.com
agencies spend a ton of time thinking about their
client’s brands and comparatively a lot less on their
own.But with the proliferation of new agency mod-
els and the sheer number of choices out there for a
marketer today, it’s never been more important for
the shops themselves to have a meaningful identity.
For Mullen, its new “Unbound” philosophy has
been the underpinning of its recent success, largely
because—unlike some of the trendier taglines
adopted by other agencies—it’s not trying too hard.
The philosophy simply rings true to the shop’s his-
tory of never being bound by the traditional separa-
tion of media and creative services. And, judging by
the increasing number of clients who want media
and creative services housed under a single roof,
Mullen’s decision to make its bundled model well-
known is a smart way to go.
“I understand why people want unbundled, but
we think we get better work hanging it all together,”
said Marty St.George,seniorVP-marketing of com-
mercial strategy at JetBlue. “We are a small spender
in our category so every dollar we spend has to carry
the weight of three to four dollars and integration is
the way to do that.”
When Mullen last year scored JetBlue’s creative
and media account after a highly competitive pitch,
it was a confirmation that its late 2009 win of cus-
tomer-favorite Zappos account wasn’t a fluke.
Mullen had successfully evolved its reputation from
a safe choice for marketers into a contemporary,for-
ward-thinking shop valued by challenger brands.
“Our prior campaigns didn’t recognize the human
side of the business, they were cute and funny but
missing something,” said Mr. St. George. Now, “we
love the fact that the videos are well-pointed at the ad-
vantages of JetBlue vs.our competitors.” Launched in
October, The You Above All campaign included a
YouTube home-page takeover and the launch of a Jet-
Blue branded channel that featured videos depicting
real consumers in real situations being deprived of
basic services.
“This is all an amalgamation of things and part
of a larger plan we set in motion years ago,” said Joe
Grimaldi, CEO/president of the Interpublic Group
of Cos.’-owned shop. He led a daunting cultural
overhaul within the agency, moving headquarters
from a beautiful mansion in the rolling hills of Mas-
sachusetts into downtown Boston.
“Moving to Boston was simply the best thing we
have ever done,” said CEO Joe Grimaldi.“It trans-
formed the mind-set of the agency into a company
and workspace that supported a high-collision en-
vironment that could give birth to new cutting-edge
ideas. It’s also driven talent in our direction.”
AGENCYA-LIST
In 2010, the agency increased revenue 24% while
expanding its workforce by hiring 187 new people.The
clients Mullen added to its roster last year were as di-
verse as the assignments it landed. The agency was
named creative and media accountlead for JetBlue;cre-
ative lead for Alberto Culver’s Tresemmé; direct re-
sponseagencyofrecordforQwest;PRandsocialmedia
agency lead for Century 21 and creative agency of
record for Foxwoods Resorts & Casino.
But Mullen’s Boston office wasn’t the only bright
spot for the agency. It was the North Carolina office
that won Tresemmé, along with its Men’s Warehouse
accounts;its Pittsburghbureauwona projectfrom Un-
derArmour for the brand’s outdoor products group
and,working with theAmerican DiabetesAssociation,
convinced one million Americans to join its “Stop Di-
abetes” Movement.
Mark Huggins,executive director of brand market-
ing for Olympus ImagingAmerica,said his company’s
relationship with Mullen began 10 years ago when the
agency was managing its PR account. After letting
Mullen run creative duties on a couple of campaigns
the relationship expanded.
“Mullen does a great job handling a fully integrated
campaign,” Mr. Huggins said.
Here’s whatit’s doing:Mullendeveloped a soup-to-
nuts effort for the Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera to en-
gage fans of Olympus through a series of media
activations.The push includedTV spots,an ad inWired
magazine’s iPad edition and an augmented reality
demo of the camera, all aimed at getting social-media
attention. Mullen’s idea also included shooting all as-
pects of the campaign with the camera.
Theresulthelpeddrivesalesofthecamerafarbeyond
expectations and generated hundreds of millions of PR
impressions, and hundreds of thousands of visits and
pageviewstotheaugmentedrealitydemonstrationsite.
Mullen’s senior execs believe that this is just the
first step of a bigger evolution for Mullen.“I’d like to
see us attract some more hundred-million-dollar,
high-profile brands,” said Alex Leikikh, managing
partner and director of account service. “We’re just
writing chapter one of a significantly long book.”
MarketerssuchasJetBlueandZappos,lookingfor
bangfortheirbuck,findtheagency’sbundlingof
creativeandmediatheperfectfitfortheirneeds
MULLEN
3
74410
Posted with permission from the January 10, 2011 issue of Advertising Age ® www.ADAGE.com, Copyright 2011. Crain Communications. All rights reserved.
For more information on the use of this content, contact Wright's Media at 877-652-5295.
Mullen’s multi-office team (left to right): Jason Black, Dave Popelka, Mark Wenneker, Alex Leikikh,
Sheila Leyne, Brian Bronaugh, John Fitzgerald, John Moore, Stephen Larkin
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JANUARY 10, 2011
I BY MICHAEL BUSH mbush@adage.com
agencies spend a ton of time thinking about their
client’s brands and comparatively a lot less on their
own.But with the proliferation of new agency mod-
els and the sheer number of choices out there for a
marketer today, it’s never been more important for
the shops themselves to have a meaningful identity.
For Mullen, its new “Unbound” philosophy has
been the underpinning of its recent success, largely
because—unlike some of the trendier taglines
adopted by other agencies—it’s not trying too hard.
The philosophy simply rings true to the shop’s his-
tory of never being bound by the traditional separa-
tion of media and creative services. And, judging by
the increasing number of clients who want media
and creative services housed under a single roof,
Mullen’s decision to make its bundled model well-
known is a smart way to go.
“I understand why people want unbundled, but
we think we get better work hanging it all together,”
said Marty St.George,seniorVP-marketing of com-
mercial strategy at JetBlue. “We are a small spender
in our category so every dollar we spend has to carry
the weight of three to four dollars and integration is
the way to do that.”
When Mullen last year scored JetBlue’s creative
and media account after a highly competitive pitch,
it was a confirmation that its late 2009 win of cus-
tomer-favorite Zappos account wasn’t a fluke.
Mullen had successfully evolved its reputation from
a safe choice for marketers into a contemporary,for-
ward-thinking shop valued by challenger brands.
“Our prior campaigns didn’t recognize the human
side of the business, they were cute and funny but
missing something,” said Mr. St. George. Now, “we
love the fact that the videos are well-pointed at the ad-
vantages of JetBlue vs.our competitors.” Launched in
October, The You Above All campaign included a
YouTube home-page takeover and the launch of a Jet-
Blue branded channel that featured videos depicting
real consumers in real situations being deprived of
basic services.
“This is all an amalgamation of things and part
of a larger plan we set in motion years ago,” said Joe
Grimaldi, CEO/president of the Interpublic Group
of Cos.’-owned shop. He led a daunting cultural
overhaul within the agency, moving headquarters
from a beautiful mansion in the rolling hills of Mas-
sachusetts into downtown Boston.
“Moving to Boston was simply the best thing we
have ever done,” said CEO Joe Grimaldi.“It trans-
formed the mind-set of the agency into a company
and workspace that supported a high-collision en-
vironment that could give birth to new cutting-edge
ideas. It’s also driven talent in our direction.”
AGENCYA-LIST
In 2010, the agency increased revenue 24% while
expanding its workforce by hiring 187 new people.The
clients Mullen added to its roster last year were as di-
verse as the assignments it landed. The agency was
namedcreativeandmediaaccountleadforJetBlue;cre-
ative lead for Alberto Culver’s Tresemmé; direct re-
sponseagencyofrecordforQwest;PRandsocialmedia
agency lead for Century 21 and creative agency of
record for Foxwoods Resorts & Casino.
But Mullen’s Boston office wasn’t the only bright
spot for the agency. It was the North Carolina office
that won Tresemmé, along with its Men’s Warehouse
accounts;itsPittsburghbureauwonaprojectfromUn-
derArmour for the brand’s outdoor products group
and,working with theAmerican DiabetesAssociation,
convinced one million Americans to join its “Stop Di-
abetes” Movement.
Mark Huggins,executive director of brand market-
ing for Olympus ImagingAmerica,said his company’s
relationship with Mullen began 10 years ago when the
agency was managing its PR account. After letting
Mullen run creative duties on a couple of campaigns
the relationship expanded.
“Mullendoes a greatjob handling a fullyintegrated
campaign,” Mr. Huggins said.
Here’swhatit’sdoing:Mullendevelopedasoup-to-
nuts effort for the Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera to en-
gage fans of Olympus through a series of media
activations.The pushincludedTV spots,anad inWired
magazine’s iPad edition and an augmented reality
demo of the camera, all aimed at getting social-media
attention. Mullen’s idea also included shooting all as-
pects of the campaign with the camera.
Theresulthelpeddrivesalesofthecamerafarbeyond
expectations and generated hundreds of millions of PR
impressions, and hundreds of thousands of visits and
pageviewstotheaugmentedrealitydemonstrationsite.
Mullen’s senior execs believe that this is just the
first step of a bigger evolution for Mullen.“I’d like to
see us attract some more hundred-million-dollar,
high-profile brands,” said Alex Leikikh, managing
partner and director of account service. “We’re just
writing chapter one of a significantly long book.”
MarketerssuchasJetBlueandZappos,lookingfor
bangfortheirbuck,findtheagency’sbundlingof
creativeandmediatheperfectfitfortheirneeds
MULLEN
3
74410
Posted with permission from the January 10, 2011 issue of Advertising Age ® www.ADAGE.com, Copyright 2011. Crain Communications. All rights reserved.
For more information on the use of this content, contact Wright's Media at 877-652-5295.
Mullen’s multi-office team (left to right): Jason Black, Dave Popelka, Mark Wenneker, Alex Leikikh,
Sheila Leyne, Brian Bronaugh, John Fitzgerald, John Moore, Stephen Larkin
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JANUARY 10, 2011
I BY MICHAEL BUSH mbush@adage.com
agencies spend a ton of time thinking about their
client’s brands and comparatively a lot less on their
own.But with the proliferation of new agency mod-
els and the sheer number of choices out there for a
marketer today, it’s never been more important for
the shops themselves to have a meaningful identity.
For Mullen, its new “Unbound” philosophy has
been the underpinning of its recent success, largely
because—unlike some of the trendier taglines
adopted by other agencies—it’s not trying too hard.
The philosophy simply rings true to the shop’s his-
tory of never being bound by the traditional separa-
tion of media and creative services. And, judging by
the increasing number of clients who want media
and creative services housed under a single roof,
Mullen’s decision to make its bundled model well-
known is a smart way to go.
“I understand why people want unbundled, but
we think we get better work hanging it all together,”
said Marty St.George,seniorVP-marketing of com-
mercial strategy at JetBlue. “We are a small spender
in our category so every dollar we spend has to carry
the weight of three to four dollars and integration is
the way to do that.”
When Mullen last year scored JetBlue’s creative
and media account after a highly competitive pitch,
it was a confirmation that its late 2009 win of cus-
tomer-favorite Zappos account wasn’t a fluke.
Mullen had successfully evolved its reputation from
a safe choice for marketers into a contemporary,for-
ward-thinking shop valued by challenger brands.
“Our prior campaigns didn’t recognize the human
side of the business, they were cute and funny but
missing something,” said Mr. St. George. Now, “we
love the fact that the videos are well-pointed at the ad-
vantages of JetBlue vs.our competitors.” Launched in
October, The You Above All campaign included a
YouTube home-page takeover and the launch of a Jet-
Blue branded channel that featured videos depicting
real consumers in real situations being deprived of
basic services.
“This is all an amalgamation of things and part
of a larger plan we set in motion years ago,” said Joe
Grimaldi, CEO/president of the Interpublic Group
of Cos.’-owned shop. He led a daunting cultural
overhaul within the agency, moving headquarters
from a beautiful mansion in the rolling hills of Mas-
sachusetts into downtown Boston.
“Moving to Boston was simply the best thing we
have ever done,” said CEO Joe Grimaldi.“It trans-
formed the mind-set of the agency into a company
and workspace that supported a high-collision en-
vironment that could give birth to new cutting-edge
ideas. It’s also driven talent in our direction.”
AGENCYA-LIST
In 2010, the agency increased revenue 24% while
expanding its workforce by hiring 187 new people.The
clients Mullen added to its roster last year were as di-
verse as the assignments it landed. The agency was
namedcreativeandmediaaccountleadforJetBlue;cre-
ative lead for Alberto Culver’s Tresemmé; direct re-
sponseagencyofrecordforQwest;PRandsocialmedia
agency lead for Century 21 and creative agency of
record for Foxwoods Resorts & Casino.
But Mullen’s Boston office wasn’t the only bright
spot for the agency. It was the North Carolina office
that won Tresemmé, along with its Men’s Warehouse
accounts;itsPittsburghbureauwonaprojectfromUn-
derArmour for the brand’s outdoor products group
and,working with theAmerican DiabetesAssociation,
convinced one million Americans to join its “Stop Di-
abetes” Movement.
Mark Huggins,executive director of brand market-
ing for Olympus ImagingAmerica,said his company’s
relationship with Mullen began 10 years ago when the
agency was managing its PR account. After letting
Mullen run creative duties on a couple of campaigns
the relationship expanded.
“Mullendoes a greatjob handling a fullyintegrated
campaign,” Mr. Huggins said.
Here’swhatit’sdoing:Mullendevelopedasoup-to-
nuts effort for the Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera to en-
gage fans of Olympus through a series of media
activations.The pushincludedTV spots,anad inWired
magazine’s iPad edition and an augmented reality
demo of the camera, all aimed at getting social-media
attention. Mullen’s idea also included shooting all as-
pects of the campaign with the camera.
Theresulthelpeddrivesalesofthecamerafarbeyond
expectations and generated hundreds of millions of PR
impressions, and hundreds of thousands of visits and
pageviewstotheaugmentedrealitydemonstrationsite.
Mullen’s senior execs believe that this is just the
first step of a bigger evolution for Mullen.“I’d like to
see us attract some more hundred-million-dollar,
high-profile brands,” said Alex Leikikh, managing
partner and director of account service. “We’re just
writing chapter one of a significantly long book.”
MarketerssuchasJetBlueandZappos,lookingfor
bangfortheirbuck,findtheagency’sbundlingof
creativeandmediatheperfectfitfortheirneeds
MULLEN
3
74410
Posted with permission from the January 10, 2011 issue of Advertising Age ® www.ADAGE.com, Copyright 2011. Crain Communications. All rights reserved.
For more information on the use of this content, contact Wright's Media at 877-652-5295.
Mullen’s multi-office team (left to right): Jason Black, Dave Popelka, Mark Wenneker, Alex Leikikh,
Sheila Leyne, Brian Bronaugh, John Fitzgerald, John Moore, Stephen Larkin
No. 1 72ANDSUNNY
No. 2 360i
No. 3 GREY
No. 4
No. 5 DROGA5
No. 6 PEREIRA & O’DELL
No. 7 LA COMUNIDAD
No. 10 RAZORFISH
No. 11 DEUTSCH
No. 8 MULLEN
R/GA
Top 100
Global
Ad Agencies
That Know
Social Media
and Google
2011
4. CHALLENGERS ARE JUDGED BY THE COMPANY THEY KEEP
MULLENCLIENT KEYCOMPETITOR OUTSPENTRATIO
1:10
1:25
1:2
1:3
1:16
1:10
1:2
5. OUR PROCESS WORKS FOR CHALLENGERS.
WE CALL IT HYPERBUNDLING
STRATEGY
MEDIA
PR/SOCIAL
cr
m
/direct marketi
ng
pr & events
HIG
HER-VALUE ID
EAS
ANALYTICS
CREATIVE
MEDIA
DIGITAL
PR/EVENTS
MOBILE
FROM DIVERSE
COLLABORATION
STRATEGY
DESIGN
STRATEGY
EXPERIENTIAL
CRM
POP
SOCIAL
6. WE’VE BAKED A STRONG CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT AND BRAND
EXPERIENCE GROUP INSIDE A WORLD-CLASS CREATIVE ORGANIZATION
brand strategy &
message development
listening stations content creation presence engineering interactive
experiences
Internet celebritiesgame integration branded utilities
alliancesmedia/blogger relations
events executive visibility consumer
mobilization
industry leadership
viral seedingcrowdsourcingcorporate social
responsibility
issues
management
coverage tracking &
message accuracy
social insights
& optimization
paid & organic
discovery
PUBLIC RELATIONS EVENT MARKETING SOCIAL INFLUENCE
7. WE HAVE A DEDICATED SOCIAL INFLUENCE TEAM
THAT OFFERS A RANGE OF SERVICES
STRATEGICCOUNSEL EXECUTION MANAGEMENT
• Auditing
• Competitive
• Best Practices
• Counseling
• Emerging
Technology
• Education
INSIGHTS
• Platform
• Go-to-Market
• Paid
• Campaign
Integration
• Guardrails/Crisis
STRATEGY
• Campaign
• Buzz
• RTM
• Influence
• Zeitgeist
IDEATION
• Planning
• Content
• Asset SCM
• Development
EDITORIAL
• Platform
Management
• Analytics
• Activation
• Engagement
COMMUNITY
8. WE BELIEVE IN TELLING BRAND STORIES THROUGH EFFECTIVE CONTENT
Our 3-Step Approach
1 2 3
HIGH-LEVELCREATIVE NATIVECONTENT ANALYSIS+OPTIMIZATION
Translate brand into
editorial strategy
Message designed
for each channel
What worked, what
will work better
9. WE TELL IDEA-DRIVEN BRAND STORIES IN WAYS
THAT MATTER TO CONSUMERS
QUALITYCONTENT
AUDIENCE&
PLATFORMCONTEXT INFLUENCE
=+
