LONDON – US creative agency Fortnight Collective is launching its first international office in London. Fortnight Collective’s ethos is contained in the name – the agency’s unique model fast tracks the entire creative process into just two weeks.
Fortnight Collective London will be led managing director Aimee Luther, the former managing director of BMB.
Fortnight Collective was founded a year ago in Boulder, Colorado by Andy Nathan, the former chief marketing officer of US creative shop Victors & Spoils.
The agency model centres on an advertising hack that speeds up the approach to brand strategy, campaign development and production so that all creative work is completed within 14 days, with the aim of helping clients be better, faster. The key to working within the agency’s two-week time frame is assembling the right talent from the outset, boosting momentum and eliminating lengthy processes.
The London agency will partner with the Boulder office on projects for clients Nestle Purina, The Safe+Fair Food Company and emerging blockchain coffee brand Bext360. It is also working with UK clients including CALM, the male suicide prevention charity, and The Empathy Business (formerly known as Lady Geek), the consultancy aimed at helping companies use empathy to drive commercial success.
Fortnight London has already hired a collective of creatives and strategists from agencies including Mother, BMB and Albion. Nathan, who also served as managing director of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York and VP-account director at CP+P, previously worked with Aimee Luther during the early stage of their careers at Ogilvy London.
The London agency will follow Fortnight Collective’s mantra, ‘Keep Moving’, which is a reference to the speed to market that brands require and the agency’s ability to assemble a nimble bespoke team of senior-level talent with expertise in any given field.
Fortnight Collective has created innovative work for clients including Nestlé Purina, Vail Resorts, Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt, Stranahan’s Whiskey, and Made in Nature Snacks. Most recently the agency helped launch actress Sarah Michelle Gellar’s baking brand, Foodstirs, with the “More Flour To Ya” campaign.
Aimee Luther joined BMB in 2006 when the agency first launched, and spent eleven years there – five as managing director. She helped BMB get crowned Marketing Agency of the Year, won numerous pitches and worked on brands including McCain, Selfridges, TUI and Rowse. In addition, she steered client Thomson to winning a host of awards for its ‘Quality Time’ campaign.
Aimee Luther said: “Fortnight Collective believes that if you want to change the world, all you need is the right people and not enough time. And from experience, the UK market is crying out for this new model. An agency’s greatest work is often seen during a pitch process – and we see that level of work (and adrenalin) as the new normal.”
Belinda Parmar OBE, the CEO of The Empathy Business and creator of The Truth About Tech campaign, said: “Fortnight Collective are everything you want in an agency – they are creative, super smart and incredibly agile. The quality of the work they produced was far higher than anything I saw in my 15-year career in advertising. Fortnight are setting the stage and driving the agenda for exactly what an agency should be and will be in the future.”
Andy Nathan said: “I’ve witnessed the evolving marketing landscape. No matter where you sit in the equation, nothing good happens when you stay stagnant. We feel brands need to be much more nimble and fast-moving to get in front of the saturated media landscape and constant need for reinvention. There is no better time to launch in London. And no better person to do it with than Aimee Luther, who I’ve worked with from my Ogilvy London days.”
