Three Mother LA leaders start their own consultancy

Three former members of Mother LA’s leadership team have launched their own consultancy, Significant, designed to weave strategy and creativity together to address business challenges beyond advertising. The three founders are Jesse Unger, most recently head of strategy at Mother LA; Romain Naegelen, who was a partner and managing director of the agency; and Simon Bruyn, formerly co-executive creative director at Mother LA. Since leaving the independent agency in late 2024, the trio has been quietly been building Significant. Ad Age Small Agency Awards Showcase your agency’s creativity, business success and commitment to a thriving workplace. Enter today The new consultancy, which is based in Los Angeles, aims to address a gap in the market, Significant’s founders said. During their time at Mother LA, “clients were always coming to us with an ad brief,” said Naegelen, CEO. “The creative process can actually help with [broader] problems, but clients don’t necessarily come to agencies to solve them.” Significant aims to introduce creativity earlier in the problem-solving process, unlike traditional agency models, where strategy is handed off to creatives later, said Unger, chief strategy officer. The new company intends to support brands on a wide range of issues, such as differentiating their products to boost sales and building new audience segments. Significant will work closely with brands to determine which existing resources can be used to solve issues, including in-house teams and agency partners. “We aren’t marketing ourselves to people who need an ad tomorrow,” added Bruyn, the consultancy’s chief creative officer. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here One of Significant’s early clients is wearable technology company Whoop, which makes products such as fitness bands. The consultancy said it is tasked with driving growth within and beyond Whoop’s core audience but declined to share specific details on the remit. Unger, Naegelen, Bruyn and their small team of strategists are working with two other clients, stylish home products company Parachute and tech brand Native Union, known for making chargers. Before they joined Mother LA, Unger, Naegelen and Bruyn worked for various agencies, including TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles. The trio’s work for Mother LA included campaigns for brands including Postmates, Sonic and Gwyneth Paltrow’s company Goop. “We’ll be rooting for their continued success as fans, and friends,” said Teri Miller, Mother’s U.S. president and partner, in a statement. Mother LA plans to fill the managing director and head of strategy roles previously held by Naegelen and Unger, but won’t be hiring another co-ECD to partner with Jed Cohen, its executive creative director, Miller said.

Three Mother LA leaders start their own consultancy

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