Blackstone said it will be a key client of Jonny Bauer’s new company.
The Blackstone Inc. executive who shaped the identity of many of the private equity giant’s companies is spinning out his entire team to start a brand agency.
Blackstone’s Jonny Bauer, who has led its brand strategy group, will debut FundamentalCo early next year as a 12-person shop. Fashion designer and television personality Jenna Lyons, J.Crew’s former president, will join as the firm’s executive creative director. Former Droga5 CEO Sarah Thompson will be chair of FundamentalCo.
Blackstone said it will be a key client of the new company. FundamentalCo could weigh in on potential acquisitions and help craft the investment firm’s own brand. Private equity firms have recently spent more on burnishing their public images as they reach beyond the biggest pensions and endowments to attract more money from individual investors.
The spinout isn’t designed to cut costs, a Blackstone spokesperson said, noting that the firm’s budget for its work with FundamentalCo for the coming year will actually exceed the money it spent on Bauer’s team in 2023.
“We’re still going to be a fixture at 345 Park Avenue,” Bauer, 48, said in an interview, referring to Blackstone’s Manhattan headquarters. At the same time, he said, “We’ll have the freedom to evolve.”
Look back: What Jonny Bauer is up to at Blackstone
Blackstone has been the rare investment manager to boast an in-house creative consultancy.
The group led by Bauer drove campaigns for Ancestry, Link Logistics and some 50 other businesses in Blackstone’s roughly 250-company empire. Bauer also helped build the brand for Blackstone-backed Candle Media, which owns Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine. The bulk of his work centered around companies that sold products to businesses, including solar panel racks maker Enstall.
Bauer had recently expressed a desire for his team to play a bigger role in creating campaigns, rather than overseeing and outsourcing aspects of the work, said people familiar with the matter.
Blackstone and Bauer decided that spinning out the team was the best outcome.
Bauer was formerly chief strategy officer at Droga5, a buzzy ad agency later bought by Accenture, and had a hand in campaigns involving JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Dyson.
—Bloomberg News
