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.