Santa Monica, CA – Los Angeles integrated agency, Mistress, has earned Ad Age’s coveted Small Agency of the Year award for the third time in its eight-year history. The award recognizes Mistress’s outstanding work across channels—from global response television spots for TripAdvisor, to a real-time stunt responding to government travel bans for the Los Angeles Tourism Board, to breakthrough social work for brands like Walmart, Chambord, and QDOBA.
“When we first started Mistress, the world was in the midst of the Great Recession. At the time, people thought we were crazy taking up a challenge like that. We thought we were crazy,” says Damien Eley, Partner and Executive Creative Director. “But we knew it was worthwhile and almost a decade later this award drives that home. The first time we won Agency of the Year we knew we were on to something. Today, this validation proves we have really a relevant model still, not only adapting to the constantly-changing rules of the game, but thriving amongst the craziness.”
Mistress won its first Small Agency Award in 2011, on the heels of world record-setting work for Mattel—a life-size Hot Wheels jump, captured on a 30-minute ESPN special. Mistress’s second win came by way of Supermoon, which took the 2014 prize home for its ability to drive results through a metrics-accountable media approach, and a client roster including Ancestry, Bolthouse Farms, and the Honest Company. Three years later, in 2017, Mistress and Supermoon joined forces to become the modern rebundled integrated agency.
Today, Mistress leverages its position as a vanguard of modern media culture, living at the intersection of brand, media, and social. With the ability to apply traditional brand building strategy to emerging brands, but also progressive media strategy to traditional brands, Mistress has elevated countless clients in the Food & Beverage, Consumer Tech, Alcohol, Sports, and Entertainment categories.
Mistress Partner, Amir Haque, explains, “The demands on brands and clients have never been greater with the realities of a market that’s moving at unprecedented speed. We’re proud to have built an agency that can keep pace with these needs by delivering the needed results, while continuing to produce the award-winning work we’re known for.”
The award was presented at the ninth annual Ad Age Small Agency Conference in Santa Monica, California. For 2018, the team takes home Silver overall, the premier award category.