2 Indies, 1 island: Ardmore Backs Bonfire
The Belfast group takes a stake in a Dublin original and opens the door to all-island scale
Indie Bombshells, Empty Auctions, and a Stanchion Pad With Opinions
Indie Spin: The one with the Cannes villa takeover, ChatGPT’s wide-open ad auction, and a butter sommelier on the payroll.
Compliance is real. Mediocrity is optional.
Inside Rx&O, the new healthcare vertical betting that pharma’s red tape was never the reason the work got boring
Butter-Churning Vests, Skydiving Frogs, and the Indie Summer of Strange
Indie Spin: The one with the runner’s butter vest, the s’mores civil war, and 13.5 million views in 48 hours.
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 a tune to make it stick
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 human ever approves.
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.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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 imposter syndrome” is a feature
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, very on-fire way to get them out of the room
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.
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 been sitting at one item for months.
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