Liberty Mutual Names Bandits & Friends Its Creative Partner, Shifting Away From Goodby Silverstein & Partners

One year after Goodby Silverstein & Partners laid off executive creative directors David Suarez and Danny Gonzalez during a company restructuring, the pair has won the Liberty Mutual Insurance account away from GS&P for its new agency, Bandits & Friends.

Liberty Mutual confirmed to ADWEEK that Bandits would be the lead partner to its internal creative shop, Copper Giants. The shift comes as Liberty Mutual has cut its media spend over the past three years. According to COMvergence data, the brand spent $750 million on measured media in 2021, $650 million in 2022 and $425 million in 2023.

“We are excited to embark on a new collaborative creative model in which an external agency works in concert with our internal agency, Copper Giants, to create new and exciting work that will help drive our business forward,” a brand spokesperson told ADWEEK.

CMO Jenna Lebel has served as the brand’s top marketer for nearly five years, and the prior relationship with Gonzalez and Suarez played a role in the shift. The brand spokesperson told ADWEEK that the agency is “intimately familiar with our brand” as Gonzalez and Suarez developed the “LiMu Emu and Doug” campaign. “They will be responsible for the extension of that campaign and new creative exploration,” the spokesperson said.

Liberty Mutual is one of a growing number of brands aligning outside creative partners with internal creative shops. For instance, DoorDash—which has Gut, The Martin Agency and Wieden+Kennedy on the roster—leans on its internal shop, Superette, as its “creative AOR.” PepsiCo has a number of external partners, but most work alongside its internal shop, Sips and Bites.

It’s the latest win for Bandits & Friends, which Gonzalez and Suarez, alongside president Courtney Berry, launched 10 months ago. The agency has already added The Athletic, Show-Me Organics cannabis, The Weather Company, National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Angi, which was formerly known as Angie’s List.

“As a fully independent small agency, we’re proud to welcome Liberty Mutual as our latest friend within a year of launching,” Berry told ADWEEK. “Their priorities are attention-stealing work and a great relationship with their partners, which fully aligns with our ethos.”

The agency has grown from the three co-founders to roughly 15 people, with recent hires coming from Droga5 (including group creative directors Nicholas Bauman and Rob McQueen), Mojo Supermarket, Arnold, MAL, Zulu Alpha Kilo and more. It also recently opened an office in New York’s Flatiron District.

Following the account loss, GS&P co-founder Jeff Goodby told ADWEEK in a statement, “We love insurance and are proud to have moved Liberty Mutual to record awareness, while seeing the jingle become one of the most recognized in advertising.” The agency told ADWEEK that it needed just three years to take LiMu and Doug to 84% awareness.

“Together, we helped the brand infiltrate pop culture,” Goodby added. “Watching your work imitated on SNL, featured in The New York Times crossword puzzle and asked as a Jeopardy question, while driving the business, is what we all aspire to do at GS&P. We look forward to doing it again in the category.”