Not only has the agency managed to keep the work fresh, but it’s also consistently effective, said Morris. “When we put on brand new creative, we see a big spike every single time. And that’s been going on for well over a decade. It’s unbelievable.”
Maintaining its ethos
For Greenberg, protecting clients and staffers is one thing, but guarding its ethos as a certified woman-owned and LGBTQIA+ agency is equally important. “We hire a mosaic and we want different kinds of people,” she said. “We want men and women and gay and straight and trans; anybody’s welcome at Terri & Sandy. But there is a similar value, and I think it’s ambition, it’s drive, it’s intelligence, but it’s also integrity.”
And just a hint of subversiveness. The agency handles a number of wholesome American brands such as Pilgrim’s Chicken, Welch’s Fruit Snacks, Yankee Candle and Hasbro, but also built into its DNA is provocation—even naughtiness—that keeps the work sharp and compelling. “There is an aspect of us that’s very charming and warm, but we are also smart and edgy when we want to be,” said Greenberg. “And we have something to say.”
Take, for example, Terri & Sandy this year taunting WPP’s return-to-work mandate with a social video that features an empty-headed marionette “employee” that follows blindly its “corporate overlord.” The hashtag: Proudly indie.