Martin Riley, Michelle Douglas, and Hugh Connelly didn’t leave Huge to fill a market gap. They left to make great work again with people they trusted and respected.
“We liked making great work,” Shophouse CEO Riley told ADWEEK. “We liked working with ambitious clients. We liked working with talented people who we like. And I think that just allows you to kind of point creative capability at different types of briefs.”
The trio began piloting Shophouse in late 2022, quietly building a globally distributed design house that blends strategic storytelling, digital experience, and product innovation. They are now officially launching the agency, and Shophouse has already delivered major work for Procter & Gamble’s SK-II skincare unit and Tapestry brands Kate Spade and Coach.
Besides Riley serving as CEO, Douglas leads strategy, and Connelly heads creative. They also have a rotating bench of senior freelance talent around the world to assemble bespoke teams around client briefs.
The three founding partners had previously all worked together in senior roles at Huge—Riley as global president, Douglas as group VP and client partner, and Connelly as executive creative director for Asia. Each left before Huge was acquired by private equity firm AEA Investors in December 2024.
Shophouse joins a growing wave of indie agencies launched by industry veterans disillusioned with the holding company system. In the last 18 months, several indie shops like Studio.One, ImaginaryFriend, and Antidote have emerged with new models designed to be faster, leaner, and more adaptable.
For the Shophouse founders, the desire to break away was personal.
“When you’re growing, it’s fine,” said Riley, recalling his time at Huge. “When you’re shrinking, the only lever you can pull is people costs. And it sucks. You just kill your culture.”
That dissatisfaction isn’t unique. A June ADWEEK survey found that just 32% of employees at holding company-owned agencies described morale as positive—compared to a clear majority at indie shops. Nearly half of holdco employees said they were looking to leave not just their agency, but the advertising industry altogether.
Connelly, agreed. “It got harder and harder to do the world’s best work,” he said. “They tend to shed senior talent, because senior talent is the most expensive. What you’re getting rid of is people who have that sort of experience and know how to solve big problems. You start to try to solve big, ambitious problems with a junior team—and when morale is low, that gets challenging.”
While Shophouse operates like a creative agency in practice, its founders bristle at the term “advertising agency” and insist on being called a “design house.”
“Design is strategic problem-solving,” said Connelly.
