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In the early to mid-2000s, Wieden+Kennedy and Crispin Porter + Bogusky were kings of creative. CP+B was winning with campaigns like “Subservient Chicken” for Burger King and Mini’s “Counterfeit,” while W+K was going global with Nike, Old Spice and Coca-Cola.
Now, former executives from both those storied ad houses have come together at Portland, Ore.-based independent shop Öpınıonated, as Kate Higgins has joined the six-year-old agency as its first chief growth officer.
Higgins was formerly a vp and account director at CP+B during its heyday, while Öpinionated founder and creative director Mark Fitzloff rose at Wieden+Kennedy, creating memorable campaigns for Old Spice and eventually becoming the executive creative director and partner at the agency before launching Öpinionated in 2017. Fitzloff is joined at the agency by other former W+K colleagues, including president Trish Adams and creative director Rob Palmer.
Higgins’ hiring has brought two distinct schools of thought together and hopes to be a boon for Öpinionated, which has already done smart work for Seventh Generation, Adidas, Nature’s Way and Drumstick. The addition of Higgins is something that Öpinionated hopes will help the still budding agency blossom.
“We’re so excited to get an outside perspective and different opinions to help shape the agency moving forward,” Adams told Adweek.
Passion for great work
A shared passion for great creative brought Higgins to Öpinionated. She saw the Seventh Generation work the agency did and was impressed. After finding out about Fitzloff’s work and knowing the success the W+K team had over the years, she knew that it would be a good fit.
“Great brands are needed today more than ever because of the absolute dumpster fire that is the media landscape,” Higgins told Adweek.
Higgins is more than just her CP+B past, however. She was most recently with Erich & Kallman as the agency’s chief growth officer, her second time with the agency. She also had stints as a president at MullenLowe, partner and chief client officer at Made, founder of consultancy Youngest Child, and account positions at Fallon and Carmichael Lynch.