The independent agency world — news, work, people and thinking.
At 80, A-Basin Still Just Wants You to Ski
Cactus gives Colorado's Legend a mustachioed spokesperson who would rather spend the ad budget on lift tickets in its 80th season
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StayGold: The Agency That Rebranded With a Song
An agency named Response spent years being mistaken for something it wasn't — so it changed its name, then wrote…
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AI Can Make Everything Now. This Makes Sure None of it Goes Off-Brand
BrandStudios.AI, founded by CMO Russell Barnett, scores every AI output against the brand's own standard and gates it before a…
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How a Joke About a Giant Juicer Ended Up in MoMA
Indie Spin: The one with permanent collections, Cannes cheat sheets, and a very pink dumpster.
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A Glacier You Can Play, a Fish You Can Mourn, and a Museum of Everything Left in Ubers
Indie Spin: The one with the ice vinyl, the Lizzo jingle, and 23 awards in China.
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Mac & Cheesecake, Subservient Ghostface, and the Death of the Keyword
Indie Spin: The one with a Grand Effie, a trip to Ibiza, and Google's first dip below 50%.
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They Say That Indies Can’t Help Brands Scale. That’s a Bunch of Horse Kicks
Conagra calls on Cornett for its in-house media reboot across Slim Jim, Banquet, Marie Callender's and more iconic brands.
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Fake TikTok Bros, Hot Dogs in History Paintings, and a Trophy Case That Won’t Quit
Indie Spin: The one with an infiltrated algorithm, a Cannes countdown, and the 95% of buyers who aren't listening.
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Meet Chemistry: 10 Years In, Still Without a Cake
The Atlanta indie's leadership trio on naming the agency for a no-asshole rule, the data science turn, and why "permanent…
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Flamethrowers, Machetes and the End of “It’s Not My Job”
INNOCEAN USA's Jason Sperling and behavioral coach Jen Ostrich on the limiting beliefs killing agency work — and the visceral,…
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Fifty Submarine Spots, One Yellow Pencil, and a Camcorder Full of BuzzBallz
Indie Spin: The one with humor pencils, human taxidermy, and Tim and Eric in a basement.
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The Shopify Cart Capped at 1.0. Nobody Noticed.
Left Off Madison's Rob Douglas and Boris Litvinov bought their client's product and found out why the average basket had…
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Duncan Channon’s specialty: brands and causes everyone’s mad at
For over 30 years, the San Francisco indie has turned negative narratives into a niche — and a competitive edge
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One Show Pencils, a Whisky With No Tasting Notes, and a Coalition Heading to Cannes
Indie Spin: The one with Rethink's 29 Pencils, Willem Dafoe picking whisky on feeling alone, and Indie at Large launching…
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When Indie Agencies Sweep Awards Season, Then Send LEGOLAND Coaster Reactions to the Edge of Space
Indie Spin: The one with a Grand Clio for Grindr, Lionel Messi in six months, and a Jeep origin story.
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Where Eagles Dare Bought All of Karate Kid for a Midas Spot
The Pittsburgh indie shop turned Midas' 70th anniversary into an 80s montage starring William Zabka — and yes, they had…
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Venus Has a Frequency, Heinz Has a Napkin Gag, and Boring Ads Have a $228 Billion Bill
Indie Spin: The one with a Madden mod that simulates concussions, an agency born from an organ-donor soccer campaign, and…
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Quality Meats: Proud Weirdos That Cut the Fat
5 years in, the Chicago indie operates like a local butcher shop — small team, senior cuts, no frills and…
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How This Rebrand Survived the Cracker Barrel Effect
FUSE Create renamed 70-year-old American Student Assistance to Brightbound — then stuck the landing while the rest of rebrand-Twitter was…