Mono set up shop in Minneapolis 15 years ago with the goal to become a challenger agency in what it calls “often overlooked Middle America.”

No one is overlooking Mono now. The MDC-owned shop’s revenue last year rose to $39 million, up from $34 million in 2017. Organic new business grew more than nine times at the agency, which counts Walmart, Google and MillerCoors among its clients.

Ads Mono created for Loews using first- and third-party segmentation data helped the hotel chain notch an 8.8 percent increase in bookings and a 14.9 percent jump in revenue. Mono last year also doubled its number of female executive leaders, including hiring Vanessa Fortier as its first executive creative director. Fifty percent of senior leadership and 32 percent of the creative department are now female. In all, the agency is 55 percent female and 45 percent male.

Outside of work, Mono also encourages staff to develop ideas. One such successful project last year was the COLD AF campaign to raise awareness for Operation Warm, a nonprofit that provides coats to Minnesota kids in need. As part of the effort, the agency delivered warm hats to Super Bowl fans who couldn’t take the cold when the game was played in Minneapolis in 2018. The hats sold out in less than 24 hours and the project supplied 530 coats to kids.