Former Head of Strategy Launches New Creative Agency Brass Ideas With Faster, More Flexible Model

Brass Ideas, a newly launched San Francisco-based creative agency led by former planning director Andrew Clarke, is pursuing growth after rapid success with several notable clients including Atlassian, Microsoft and Twitter.

“The modern brand experience is digital,” says Clarke. “We wanted to combine real brand strategy, top level creative and digital sophistication into a new offering. The agency world is still divided mainly into digital and brand agencies. Given how consumers actually behave, this schism makes less and less sense. So, we decided to invent something new.”

Having started out at Chiat/Day, Clarke has led planning and strategy at iconic shops like Hal Riney and Butler, Shine Stern & Partners. He was also worldwide head of ideas at ZenithOptimedia, helping to win digital Cannes Lions for both media and creative with the PUMA Hardchorus. This newest venture is a response to both today’s increasingly digital consumer landscape and changes in the agency model which, Clarke observes, “have often left clients paying more for less.”

In the Brass model, fewer, more senior people tailored to the specific needs of each client produce better and faster results. This approach has helped Brass rack up wins for companies like Atlassian, an international software company recently valued at $3.3 billion, Microsoft Lumia and Twitter.

Brass has strategically structured its business so that the agency is able to scale up to meet the demands of a major brand campaign or behave more nimbly to meet the needs of a single project within a larger brand umbrella. Clarke thinks the time is right for a new model that takes advantage of consumer, client and agency trends.

“Powerful ideas, in culture, will always make a big difference” said Clarke. “It’s just how we get them and what they look like that is changing. I think we’ve found a method that’s better, faster and more efficient––and clients agree. We’re ready to go.”

Brass is currently leading an exciting project for Atlassian’s revolutionary HipChat and also recently completed a hush-hush project for Twitter that will help the social media giant bring their commercial vision to life through film.

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About Andrew Clarke:

Brass Ideas Founder Andrew Clarke is a creative strategist with 20 years of diverse advertising and marketing experience at creative agencies, media agencies and startups. He has spearheaded marketing and brand strategy for globally recognized clients including: Atlassian, Microsoft Lumia, Twitter, General Mills, Nestle, Verizon, Sprint, PUMA, MINI, B of A, Chase, Morgan Stanley, Cisco, Google, Dell, Nokia, and HP, earning numerous honors including D&AD awards, Cannes Lions, Gold Effies, One Show awards, and Clios.

Prior to starting Brass Ideas, Clarke held positions as Head of Brand Strategy at BSSP, Worldwide Head of Ideas at ZenithOptimedia (the world’s largest media company) and Head of Brand Strategy at Hal Riney and Partners. While at ZenithOptimedia, he led the global team on the double-Cannes-Lions-winning campaign “PUMA Hardchorus,” partnering with Droga5 for creative duties. Clarke currently resides in San Francisco.

About Brass Ideas:

Brass Ideas makes stuff that people want to talk about. We’re a collective of like-minded, creative, strategic and very experienced people with diverse backgrounds. We’re turned on by solving client problems and actually achieving something in the real world.