5 women relaunch their creative agency after buying it back from WPP

After completing a buyout from WPP earlier this year, five female agency executives are relaunching their creative shop. HZ, which was previously owned by WPP-owned communications agency BCW (now known as Burson), will now be known as Notorious111. The new name is designed to reinterpret the word “notorious”—which often has a negative connotation—as the Washington-based agency focuses on helping clients build brand recognition, CEO Katie Hooper told Ad Age. “We started to explore this idea around, ‘What does it mean to truly be known?’” said Hooper. “Why can't Mr. Rogers be notorious for kindness? Why can’t Mother Teresa be notorious? Just asking people to reimagine what’s possible is where we started from.” HZ’s leadership team—including Hooper, Chief Client Officer Justine Henning, Chief Strategy Officer Nicole Wyche, Chief Operating Officer Deena Smith and Chief Financial Officer Winnie Lee—bought back the agency in April, roughly six years after BCW (then known as Burson Cohn & Wolfe) acquired it. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here Notorious111 works with brands such as Volkswagen, Monumental Sports and Kawasaki. The agency, founded in 1987, employs about 55 employees. “We are grateful to the entire team for their partnership and contributions to our business,” a Burson spokeswoman said in a statement. “We wish them every success in this new chapter.” More: Why there are so many new ad agencies opening With its newfound independence, Notorious111 aims to focus more on developing creative and working with brands around culture. That was sometimes difficult to do under BCW, which was focused mainly on corporate communications, Hooper said. To that end, Notorious111 recently started conducting “Giant Leaps,” which are essentially workshop sessions designed to help clients identify their brand ethos, which is then used to determine the right creative output, such as a podcast or documentary. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “The world doesn’t need another advertising agency. There’s 14,000 agencies that are exactly like HZ,” said Hooper. “We can make anything—the website, social campaign or ad campaign—but so can everyone else … Where we’re seeing a gap is [in truly cracking brands open], where you’re working with your partners creatively to understand what they can stand for [and] be known for.”

5 women relaunch their creative agency after buying it back from WPP

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