Agency news you need to know this week

Happy Friday, and welcome back to Agency Brief. This week, we take a look at EP+Co’s big win and WPP’s response to the LA wildfires. Want to be included in a future edition? Reach out ewan.larkin@adage.com and brian.bonilla@adage.com for consideration. Cereal maker finds new AOR Post Consumer Brands has hired EP+Co as strategy and creative agency of record for Honey Bunches of Oats and Pebbles, the cereal brand that has variations including Cocoa and Fruity. The Interpublic Group of Cos.’ agency’s first work for the cereal marketer will launch in 2026. The identity of the incumbent wasn’t immediately clear. In 2022, Post enlisted fellow IPG shop McCann to work on brands including Pebbles. McCann worked with the cereal brand for a year on a strategic project that wrapped in 2023, a McCann spokeswoman confirmed. Agencies continue to respond to the LA wildfires WPP has launched a donation matching program to support the broader communities affected by the California wildfires, according to an internal memo obtained by Ad Age. Also read: LA wildfires disrupt the ad industry Michael Houston, the holding company’s U.S. president, said in the memo that vetted, eligible organizations include Global Giving, World Central Kitchen, California Community Foundation, California Fire Foundation and the Cal Fire Benevolent Foundation. Read Ad Age’s 2025 predictions stories here ICYMI Here are a few of Ad Age’s biggest agency stories this week: Valerie expands into creative and production services A trio of agency DEI specialists has teamed up to expand their small consultancy, Valerie, into more of a creative agency and consultancy hybrid, an extension that comes as a conservative groundswell against diversity has led some of the biggest advertisers to halt some of their diversity, equity and inclusion work. Valerie, named after UniWorld Group veteran Valerie Graves, is headed by Kai Deveraux Lawson, who embedded DEI across all areas of Dentsu Creative’s U.S. business, along with Simeon Coker and Tracey Busch, who have worked at R/GA and Intermission Group, respectively. All three execs have been working on the project since 2023. Each focuses on a different area—Lawson on culture and marketing, Busch on strategy and Coker on creative and production. Valerie’s leaders are pushing to get its name out there just as numerous major brands have been moving away from diversity initiatives and rebranding DEI with other terms. Last Friday alone, Meta Platforms Inc. confirmed that it was disbanding many of its diversity and inclusion efforts and it was reported that Amazon was halting some of its diversity and inclusion programs. McDonald’s, Lowe’s, Ford, Molson Coors and others have also made changes. ‘So long, farewell’ Most agencies are quite upset about losing longstanding accounts, but not New York-based indie Six+One. As its six-year retainer with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bronx Zoo comes to an end, Six+One has created a song—a remake of “So Long, Farewell” from “The Sound of Music”—to express gratitude for the collaboration. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here Quote of the week “We lose the humanity of offering a crisp red apple to bite into when we walk in the door and get AI instead—doesn’t taste quite the same. Kinda sad.”—Lisa Cochrane, who once worked closely with Leo Burnett as senior VP of marketing at Allstate, when reacting to Publicis Groupe’s decision to merge Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide. Just briefly Mischief @ No Fixed Address on Thursday formally unveiled a media practice. The indie agency, which has quietly been offering such services to clients over the past year, pledged to “provide transparency into fees, eliminate hidden mark-ups and recommend partners without bias.” Mischief’s media clients include Supercell and Peet’s Coffee. Suja Life, a maker of organic, cold-pressed juices, has named indie shop BarkleyOKRP as its creative agency of record following a competitive review handled by Joanne Davis Consulting. There was no incumbent on the account, according to a BarkleyOKRP spokesperson. Adam&eveDDB named Ant Nelson and Mike Sutherland as co-chief creative officers and promoted Will Grundy to chief strategy officer. Nelson and Sutherland were formerly executive creative directors, while Grundy was head of planning. The promotions follow the departure of predecessors Chief Creative Officer Richard Brim and Chief Strategy Officer Martin Beverley. Orchard Creative appointed Katie Kolesky as head of business development, a new role. She formerly led brand building at Georgia-Pacific’s Quilted Northern, where she first came across Orchard. Contributing: Brian Bonilla

Agency news you need to know this week

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