Creative agency Mother is expanding to mainland Europe for the first time by opening in Berlin.

Alexander Nowak, Droga5’s former global head of art, will lead Mother’s Berlin business as chief creative officer and creative partner.

The move reunites Nowak with his former creative partner Felix Richter, who joined Mother earlier this year as global creative partner and CCO of the London office.

Nowak and Richter had previously worked together at Droga5 New York since 2011, with Richter becoming co-CCO in 2019 and Nowak being promoted to global head of art. Over that decade, they created some of the agency’s most notable and awarded work, including Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” and “Rule Yourself” campaigns, Hennessy’s “What’s Your Wild Rabbit?” rebranding and Google Pixel’s global launch.

Mother declined to disclose which clients it has in Berlin.

Coffee and creativity

The agency is in the final phase of construction on a permanent Berlin office, but in the meantime, Nowak has partnered with local coffee bar Espressobar in Charlottenburg’s Mommsenstrasse to set up a temporary workspace.

“We’ve long admired the values and traditions of German business. With Alex, Berlin and the support of the whole Mother family, particularly our team in London, we believe we can become a successful destination for creative-minded talent and clients in a market which is both a gateway to Europe and so important in its own right,” Mother global CEO Michael Wall said in a statement.

“It’s our mission to create a culture that creative minds—clients and our team alike—gravitate towards, one where we’ll get to make the best work of our lives. I want to create an environment that attracts the best talent from around the world to Berlin, no matter what seniority level or background. Mother Berlin will radiate radical positivity,” Nowak added.

Since Richter started this year, Mother London has poached Wieden+Kennedy London creative director Tom Bender as executive creative director and promoted Nick Hallbery to ecd.

Mother’s headquarters and founding office is in London, and it also has locations in New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. 

Mother is the latest British ad agency to expand to Berlin. In May, adam&eveDDB opened an office there after winning German telecom company Deutsche Telekom’s advertising business.