Mother has poached Alexander Nowak, global head of art at Droga5, to head up a new office the independent agency is opening in Berlin.

Nowak is the former creative partner of Felix Richter, who joined Mother as chief creative officer and partner in London from Droga5 in February. A German native, Nowak worked for almost 15 years in New York but has been working remotely from Berlin for Droga5 until mid this year. He will now join Mother as partner and chief creative officer, reporting to Mother Global CEO Michael Wall and Founder Robert Saville. 

"It was very exciting to come back to Europe and especially Berlin, it's such a vibrant and electric place at the moment," said Nowak in an interview with Ad Age. "The last couple of years, bigger brands such as the Netflix and Teslas of the world are coming in, and it almost feels like the second coming of Berlin. It's pretty much in my opinion the creative capital of Europe, with most of the creative talent there, and it's a fantastic place to create something from scratch, which is for me on a professional level a new adventure."

Joining Richter at Mother was "a lovely bonus," he added. "Mother has always stood for beautiful creativity for me since my early days in advertising. And that Felix is here in London is very exciting, and it will be interesting to see how two ex-partners running different parts of the agency will work."

'Radical positivity' and a bakery 

Nowak said the agency had clients lined up but could not reveal any names as yet as founding clients. While he is the only employee so far, he will start hiring immediately and is already in conversations with local talent. "I want to create an environment that attracts the best talent from around the world to Berlin, no matter what seniority level or background," he said. "Mother Berlin will radiate radical positivity.”

Until Mother finds office premises, he will be based out of a Berlin bakery, Espressobar. Mother has partnered with the family-run bakery as a meeting place, in part to show support to the small business, as bakeries in particular are suffering in Germany due to increased energy costs. Nowak said that Mother may also create a campaign for the bakery.
 

Mother, which already has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai, is not the only agency expanding in Berlin. Adam&Eve/DDB opened an office there in May, with Deutsche Telekom as its founding client. The city is home to several top production companies such as Anorak Film as well as highly regarded local agencies such as Heimat.

“We’ve long admired the values and traditions of German business," Wall said in a statement. "With Alex, Berlin, and the support of the whole Mother Family, particularly our team in London, we believe we can become a successful destination for creative-minded talent and clients in a market which is both a gateway to Europe and so important in its own right."

"When we decided to open in Europe, there was nowhere else we wanted to be; Berlin thrills us and is increasingly the destination for young creative minds from Europe and beyond," added Katie Mackay-Sinclair, partner at Mother. "And [we are] so happy that he and Felix are being reunited; albeit in different cities. Mother has always gone where the talent is and sought to provide it with a truly independent creative home. Alex and Mother Berlin are the right team in the right home in the right city at the right time.”