Anomaly, TBWA and M&C Saatchi execs join to launch ideas agency Ugly
Ugly, an ideas agency, has launched in Sydney with insurance giant IAG’s challenger brand Satellite as its first client.
New ideas agency Ugly has launched in Sydney backed by M&C Saatchi
Founded by ex-Anomaly Amsterdam CEO and founding partner Hazelle Klønhammer, ex-TBWA Sydney ECD Gary McCreadie and ex-M&C Saatchi Sydney head of strategy Ross Berthinussen, Ugly aims to bring a collaborative and “human” approach to the industry.
The agency has been backed by M&C Saatchi but will operate independently of the group.
Ugly is positioning the business around the founders' shared belief that “creativity can transform business” and the idea that even the ugliest problems can be turned into something beautiful.
To bring this to life, Ugly will create small teams of senior people to collaborate on business and will partner with strategic and creative collaborators and specialists as and when the work requires it.
The agency has also done away with time sheets opting for what it calls ‘value-based’ models.
“We are driven by values and we want to work with good people who want to work in a human way and who want to make great work,” said Klønhammer.
Ugly launches with the challenger insurance brand Satellite as it founding client. The brand, which is owned by insurance giant IAG, will operate as a small challenger brand in a bid to drive growth for the company.
The founders are hoping the agency's value positioning will help attract like-minded clients and are looking to build their client list based on shared beliefs, rather than categories or business sectors.
“We’ll have a go at anything. We just want to make really good work that is really effective,” said Klønhammer.
“What’s most important to us is to work with clients that will bring us in on the process, because this kind of model isn’t for every client. It’s not for clients that want to brief us and disappear. It’s for clients that want to join at the hip with us and help us really define where to take their business.”
“The most important thing for us is building an environment where creativity thrives. Looking back at the end of the year with clients that we have shared values with and we are creating work for them that is actively shifting their business for us would be a massive win," said Klønhammer.
The founders bring five decades of combined experience garnered from world-leading agencies such as Anomaly, BBH London and Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam.