Jennifer Harrington founded Hatch in 2009 after noticing something others missed: incredible creative talent was falling out of agencies and wanted independence without losing community. Sixteen years later, that observation became a business model. The Cambridge-based branding agency—moving back to the South End this year—built its reputation helping legacy brands like Hood Milk and Blue Cross Blue Shield reconnect with new audiences.
Then, four years ago, Dorothy Urlich joined as President of HATCH Talent. The agency became something bigger: a place where brands, freelancers and agencies all get what they need, even when Hatch doesn’t get the project. “We’re very, very active with our client relationships,” Harrington says. “We get hired many times, again and again by the same clients.” That’s what happens when you figure out what works and stop pretending otherwise.
How Hatch Got From Trinity to Legacy Brands
Harrington spent her pre-Hatch years at Trinity Communications. Big clients like Fidelity, Liberty Mutual and John Hancock. Traditional agency model, senior leadership role.
But by 2009, she’d noticed a shift. Senior creatives were leaving agencies not because they were burned out on the work—they were burned out on the structure.
So she built Hatch as a center point: a tight core of strategic thinkers surrounded by independent talent who could move in and out on projects.
Within a few years, Hood Milk came calling. They needed to make a 100-year-old dairy brand feel fresh. Then Blue Cross Blue Shield needed the same thing.
It turns out that there’s a sweet spot in helping established brands leverage their equity and connect it to where culture is.
What Hatch Is Known For: When Brand and Business Don’t Match
Branding agencies are everywhere. Agencies that can take a brand your grandmother knows and make your teenager care? Much rarer.
Hatch specializes in situations where brand and business strategy aren’t aligned. The name might be familiar, the product solid, but the story failed to connect.
“We tend to work with legacy brands that are trying to reintroduce themselves to new audiences,” Harrington says. Not rebrand. Reintroduce.
It means respecting what’s there—the equity, the history, the trust—and finding the thread that pulls it forward.
No scorched earth. Just smart work that makes old feel new without pretending it isn’t old.
Three Things Hatch Does Better Than Most
First: they solve brand-strategy misalignment. When what a company says doesn’t match where it’s going, Hatch figures out the path through.
Second: genuinely long client relationships. Clients hire them multiple times. That doesn’t happen unless you deliver.
Third: they align talent with project needs in ways that work. Urlich’s team finds the right people for specific problems.
Freelance copywriter for three weeks? CMO for full-time? They figure it out.
“Every request is unique,” Urlich says. Sometimes clients need the agency. Sometimes a freelance team. Sometimes they need to hire someone instead of using Hatch at all.
They’ll tell you which.
Being Indie Means Choosing What Matters
Harrington’s only worked at independent agencies. “I think I really sort of value the benefits of independence,” she says. “We have a lot of control over where we work, who we work with, and what we do.”
That control shows up in community work. Harrington sits on multiple boards focused on arts education access, including MassArt’s Foundation Board.
When the team returned post-COVID in 2021, they commissioned artist Cheryl Sorg to create “Raining Upward”—an installation each employee helped complete.
Earlier this year, Hatch launched a Cultural Advisory Council. Diverse professionals review creative work to ensure it’s culturally resonant and free from blind spots.
The kind of move you make when you’re not answering to quarterly targets.
Why Brands Pick Hatch Over Bigger Shops
Access to senior people immediately. No junior teams learning on client dime.
Flexibility. Hatch customizes to individual needs instead of forcing everyone through the same process.
And here’s what most agencies won’t say: sometimes you don’t need an agency.
Sometimes you need three freelancers for six weeks. Or consulting to fix internal marketing. Or help selling a plan to skeptical stakeholders.
Hatch will tell you that. They’ll build the freelance team and hand it over. Help you make the right hire instead of keeping you as a client.
That honesty builds trust. It also explains why Boston indies end up on rosters together. “We’re often on a roster with other agencies,” Harrington says. “It’s why some of the other agencies in Boston are such good friends.”
Why Talent Chooses Hatch
Urlich came from IDEXX, where she ran Global Creative Operations. Before that: COO at HeyLet’sGo, CMO at Sleek Machine, Hill Holliday, Mullen. She’s worn every hat.
The Hatch roster gives freelancers access to bigger projects they couldn’t get solo. A freelance copywriter might work on a broadcast campaign for a major healthcare brand. A designer gets embedded in a client’s marketing team for six months.
“They might have the opportunity as a freelancer to do a very large broadcast assignment that they wouldn’t typically have gotten,” Urlich says.
The work goes in their book. Pay is solid. Independence stays intact.
Full-time talent comes during job searches because Hatch has industry relationships. They match people to agencies, in-house teams, the exact right role.
That platform approach—freelance roster, full-time placement, agency work—gives talent options for however they want to work.
Magnets for the Problems Others Won’t Touch
When asked about weirdos/misfits/underdogs, Urlich laughs. “We’re not the weirdos, but we attract the weird projects.”
Clients come with unusual assignments. Consulting work. Internal team setup. Marketing plan sales support. Talent audits. Requests that don’t fit “we need an ad campaign.”
“We do unusual things,” Urlich says. “Sometimes you don’t even see it in produced work—it becomes more of a consulting assignment.”
That flexibility to solve the actual problem instead of the problem you wish you had? That’s where Hatch lives.
Dear Kristin and Gordie: Let’s Connect
Harrington doesn’t hesitate. “I am a raging super fan of Kristin Cavallo.”
The former Martin Agency CEO just moved to the Branch Museum of Design in Richmond. “She was such a spokesperson for this industry and for creative and creative product during COVID. I just loved her. And the fact that she is now at a museum—I sort of want to be her.”
Urlich wants to meet more chief creative officers she doesn’t know—especially in the middle of the country. East Coast and West Coast relationships are solid, but there’s a whole indie scene between them.
“I was watching Quality Meats, so I just want to give a shout out to Gordie Sang and everything that team is doing.” Hatch already recruits for other independents. “We’d love to meet all of them.”
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