Joan’s brashness and bold moves pay off

Plastering the word vulva on London’s Tate Modern in huge capital letters. A woman storming an office destroying everything in her wake. A fever dream of being swindled by fake merchandise peddlers. These in-your-face campaigns were created by Joan, a brash indie that is defying perceptions and using unconventional partnerships to realize its goal of becoming, in its own words, “the first female-owned independent holding company.” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here Partners Lisa Clunie and Jaime Robinson are working to redefine the creative agency by adding expertise in consulting, communications and more with new partnerships such as JoanxMedia, created in collaboration with Crossmedia and its homegrown in-house production studio. This direction is paying off for Joan, which opened in London last year, its first international market. The shop increased net revenue 52% to $30 million last year, nailing 10 new clients, three of them agency-of-record relationships. And in a world where diversity is critical, the shop is now 34% people of color. The 87-person agency has been infused with new energy (and a new look). The shop’s vision shows in work for clients such as Zen Business, for which Joan created that barnstorming woman leaving the corporate life behind to become an entrepreneur. The spot garnered more than 78 million impressions and earned Joan a Campaign of Year nod for the B2B category at last year’s Ad Age Small Agency Awards. For the same client, it targeted neurodiverse people—who over-index in the world of entrepreneurship but often are labeled as underperformers in schools—luring them with 2,023 LLC certificates printed on paper made from shredded report cards. For European Wax Center, it created an arresting triptych, mixing heads, torsos and legs of different models to demonstrate the company can make “Every body smooth.” The effort led to a 72% jump in consideration; web reservations increased 24% over the prior year. For Luna Daily, a body care brand for even the most sensitive areas, Joan London struck a blow for body positivity by splashing the word vulva on outdoor boards. Joan’s work for eBay reassured buyers of luxury products that its merchandise is 100% real by jarring them with images of what fakery looks like. And for the Ad Council, it turned drug dealers into schoolteachers to warn about fentanyl overdoses. It doesn’t get much braver than that. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here

Joan’s brashness and bold moves pay off

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