First, about that name: Our Man In Havana is a reference to a 1959 novel of the same name that partly comes from President-Creative Director Andrew Golomb's love of 1960s culture.

The obscure reference is also meant to portray the six-person shop as a trusted ally. And on that front, the agency has delivered in a multitude of ways across many disciplines, from digital to product innovation. Along the way, the shop scrapped for business, refusing to inflate its org chart with what it called "freelancer friends," while getting its foot in the door with small projects.

For booze brand Original Moonshine, the shop created a series of quirky digital videos in which the cowboy-hat wearing master distiller opines on an array of pop-culture topics. Snooki? "I haven't done that since I was a teenager." Lindblad-National Geographic Expeditions saw a spike in interest for its excursions thanks to the agency's campaign which urged people to take off-the-beaten-path trips to places like the Galapágos.

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