The five-year plan behind FCB New York’s winning streak

“Any agency can have an up year or a piece of work that stands out. But [for the last five years,] we’ve really tried to focus on sustained creative excellence and success for our clients and it’s really gratifying to see that come to life,” says Armstrong.

The agency has tripled in size since 2020 and landed 12 new clients in the past year alone, including the mammoth Kellanova brands account, which has seen it take on the Cheez-It, Pringles, Rice Krispies Treats and Eggo brands. It has graced the stage at virtually every awards event in the past year, thanks to work such as Michelob’s ‘Dreamcaster’ and Spotify’s ‘Spreadbeats’ campaign.

Armstrong puts its success down to two things: client trust and culture.

The CEO empathizes that it’s “scary” to be a client today. In a world where brands are under increasing scrutiny and the court of public opinion is quicker than ever to judge a wrong move, CMOs are understandably “programmed” to want to reduce risk. And often, that can mean wanting to do work that’s safe and predictable. But from day one at the agency, her approach has been to set up FCB New York as a business partner for clients that will handhold them through work that pushes the boundaries.

“Our job is to create work that stands out, work that hasn’t been seen before, that hasn’t been in the category before. That can feel very can feel scary. It feels like the brave thing to do. Our job is to make sure it feels like the safe thing to do because it’s the right thing for the business.”

The best work comes when there’s mutual trust between client and agency, she adds. “You don’t achieve the level of growth that we’ve had over the last five years if you lose clients as quickly as you win them. We’ve had the good fortune to have really great people who have attracted really great clients who truly want to do incredible creative work that makes a difference for their business. And again, it sounds so basic and so fundamental, but it’s the core of what an agency really should stand for. But until you do it year after year, then it’s not what an agency stands for. So I think every client that we have right now, hand on heart, has that shared belief that if you do really good creative, it will make a difference.”

That trust has been earned in part thanks to the backing of its parent company, IPG. No one knows what the future will hold for its agencies when it eventually merges with Omnicom. Just this week, fellow-IPG shop R/GA celebrated its emancipation from the holding company structure. But Armstrong says without the wider network and shared data and insights it can bring, clients would be even more reluctant to take big risks.

“We feel very strongly that you can be a very successful creative agency with the backing of a holding company. We think it serves us really well. We have a ton of autonomy to run the agency in the way that is best for the clients and for the work and for the people, to the talented creatives and creative people that we have at the agency, but we also have all the toys of the holding company at our disposal, from the data in Acxiom through to awesome partners across multiple capabilities.”

People, people, people

An agency is only as good as its people and Armstrong is quick to acknowledge that any success FCB New York is enjoying is wholly down to those under its roof. She points to the transparent culture that Aimette has created, giving its staff a “sense of belonging” and autonomy that seldom exists in other agencies.

“It’s not my agency, it’s not Emma’s agency, it’s not Todd’s agency,” says Aimette. “It’s all our agency. And I think the fact that people feel really intrinsic to the success of the place is really, really important.”

Among the creative teams, Aimette says he’s been very mindful of ensuring that there’s not a sense of the “haves and the have-nots” – those that get to work on the exciting, big-brand accounts and those that don’t.

“We’ve made a very conscious decision to raise the floor of all the work. Everyone is really empowered to do the best work of their careers, no matter what they work on. We have the agency separated into different pods where they run different accounts, but all of them are doing something really extraordinary from a creative output and a cultural perspective,” he explains.

That’s why its powerful work for the Whitney Museum or this bold and bizarre approach it took for the US Food and Drug Administration is just as thrilling for Aimette and Armstrong as Michelob and Spotify.

Staff turnover figures back the approach. With the average industry turnover at about 35% year-on-year, FCB New York says its was less than 10%.

Armstrong states: “Everyone talks about culture. Everyone talks about the importance of creativity. Everyone talks about being a business partner. The difference is we just put our heads down and do it. The proof is in the pudding: sustained creative success, sustained business success and retention of top talent.”