Strong leadership needs to be nurtured and rewarded, and Mother’s performance over the last few years in particular shows that it has one of the best teams in the business. Accordingly, its key people are stepping up to create a new global partnership group.
Global chief brand officer Katie Mackay-Sinclair, global CSO Chris Gallery, and two relative newcomers – global CCO Felix Richter and global chief client officer Teri Miller, who both joined in 2022 – are taking on this extra responsibility. They all report into agency founder Robert Saville and global CEO Michael Wall, taking more of the load off them as Mother approaches 30 years in business.
Felix Richter is Mother’s first global CCO, working with the CCOs across Mother’s offices in Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and Shanghai, and continuing oversight of London’s creative output.
Teri Miller, who is ex 72andSunny, becomes global chief client officer and is also promoted to US CEO as an acknowledgement of the growth at Mother in New York and Los Angeles. In the past year alone the offices have brought in 11 new clients including Electronic Arts, General Motors, BlackRock and General Mills.
Katie Mackay-Sinclair and Chris Gallery have been at Mother for 17 and 16 years, respectively, originally joining as strategists.
With a dramatic rise in client interest in independents with global capabilities, Mother is doubling down on working together across offices and the Family of agencies, building on what they are already doing for clients including Uber, Google, Dow Jones, Blackrock, Electronic Arts and more.
Saville said: “We have spent the last two years planning the next chapter in our Mother story. And like all our decisions it comes down to people. People who believe in the values and ambitions of Mother. Teri, Felix, Katie and Chris. Wonderful, talented and principled leaders who will help our brilliant people build on their incredible momentum and push Mother to new levels all around the world. Because, let’s face it, our industry needs a strong Mother now more than ever.”
Wall said: “This is a world class team. And they are proven and high quality practitioners for Mother. We believe that there has never been a better time to be a truly independent creative agency that is focussed on its clients, genuinely cares for its people and can act with clarity, speed and at scale in today’s marketplace.”
The agency says it has seen a “dramatic rise in client interests in independents with global capabilities,” and the steady stream of wins clearly backs up this claim, as well as the strength of fellow independents like Wieden + Kennedy or Mischief.
