The mojo is really working at this 12-person indie, which more than doubled revenue in 2020 and is now reeling in some household-name clients like Match and The Truth Initiative.
The year didn’t start out that way, however. In fact, business had stalled so much that Mo Said, the agency’s founder, was considering closing up shop in April to take a job as a chief creative officer at a major agency. It was a phone call that changed his mind.
See all of Ad Age's A-List and Creativity 2021 winners here.
In an effort to call attention to his agency and at the same time help an important social cause, Said was inspired the month before to “hack” the Oscars. The idea was to draw attention to the lack of female-directed films being honored by taking over the event’s digital stream, replacing commercials with actual clips from women-directed movies. The budget: zero. The payoff: $1 million in media attention. When that phone rang in April, it was a new client drawn in by the effort, called #GiveHerABreak.
Business followed from Rhythm, Savage X Fenty, Girls Who Code, Amazon, Kraft Heinz and Netflix. Mojo’s win/pitch rate last year was 100%.
“During a year that exposed the fragility of the industry, our worst time became our best,” said Mojo in its entry. “We’re bigger, better and more focused than ever to continue breaking shit than ever before.”