Jörg Riommi on Launching an Agency that AIN’T an Agency

In Europe, it’s officially the first day of spring, and the symbolism of launching a new business as the days are getting lighter and longer, while seedlings and buds are blossoming to life is not lost on Jörg Riommi.

“It’s a new season and a new beginning,” he says, cheerfully.

The former chief creative officer of Publicis Groupe CEE has just announced the launch of AIN’T, ‘a new creative shop for the new creative landscape’. It's an idea he's been noodling with for some time, and with years of working on some of the world's biggest brands (including Burger King, Toyota, Lexus, Renault, Nissan, Dacia, Skoda, T Mobile, O2, OPPO, ENEL, Guinness, Peroni, Skol, Visa, BNP Paribas and many more), he is ready to bring something new to the market.  

Founded in Milan, this borderless, fluid model draws together a network of creative talent from across the globe. “I think having a world-class, geographically and culturally diverse point of view can be very beneficial to many local clients in markets such as Italy or Germany and also in Eastern Europe. I think they can benefit from broadening horizons and what they can access locally. The post pandemic world proved to everyone that you don't have to be in one place to work in another, and that's a great thing we can bring right away, it's embedded in our AIN'T DNA - that's how we are built.”

This flexible  and creative-led approach, believes Jörg, presents clients with an alternative or welcome addition to the media-driven corporate approach. Under the AIN’T model, it’s easier for clients to work on a per-project basis and to get to creative solutions quickly, as it avoids the layers of bureaucracy and heavy overheads that can weigh things down under the traditional model.

“I believe in a more snappy and flexible approach, that is also more direct. Paradoxically, working remotely can actually make a relationship with crucial decision makers much more personal, direct and to the point - effective and efficient,” says Jörg. Reflecting on his awards juggernaut, the Moldy Whopper, which ranked #1 in the WARC ranking of the most awarded work in 2021, Jörg says that the remote set up was one of the engines of its creative success. “All the work I did with Fernando Machado, for instance, was done with an ocean in the middle, but was much more direct and on point than the often endless, multilayered, confusing process that often involves bigger structures, both on agency and client sides.”

Jörg isn’t alone in this new venture. He launches AIN’T with Ilko Petkov, who is the data and strategy ambassador, Alessandro Nuara, who is the AI and media ambassador and Ivanna Skulska-Lowe, client ambassador. There’s also the broad and diverse network of creative, production and strategy talent based in locations like central and Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany and the UK, as well as  in the UAE and South Africa. These are all people with whom Jörg has collaborated in the past, meaning that this dispersed network is knitted together by trust and shared history.

“I think a lot of it it's trust, love and respect, as I know these talents well and I worked with them before, so we want to keep working together, have fun and do great things. We especially want to do this the right way, with like minded people of all sorts who give the right priority to things and talk the same language, without needing to explain why all the time to someone who's not on the same page.”

The timing of AIN’T’s arrival is noticeable not only in that it coincides with the March cherry blossom, but that it comes at a time when artificial intelligence has become a major part of the conversation. From Jörg’s perspective, it’s a tool that will help a lean and flexible network like AIN’T to achieve “speed, access, depth and reach”, but Jörg is also clear that human creative experience and expertise is the real super power behind the company.

“I think AI is amazing. As you can see, it's in the AIN'T name, so we embrace it. But our name is also somehow a negation of it, in the sense that we embrace AI but AI is also not our priority - our priority is creative strategy and creative thinking, and our focus will always be the human values (see above) that drive creative decision making. AI is one more tool, among others. It doesn't replace what we already had. It comes on top and on the side, as one more amazing set of possibilities that would be anachronistic not to explore. But it is not what we sell - we sell ideas.”

Jörg’s very open that the model “ain’t for everyone” – he jokes that it’s already one of their T-shirt slogans – but with its value-based payment structure, lack of bureaucracy and emphasis on bold, unmissable ideas, for clients looking for a jolt of energy. He reflects that those clients could be brands, in-house studios or even agencies themselves looking for outside inspiration.

“Jokes aside, I believe we will fit well with everyone who wants a bit of thunder – any CMO or CEO or entrepreneur that is tired of advertising that wants to be discreet and avoid having a point of view or an idea, happy to pass like a ship in the dark. The worst risk ultimately, for marketeers is not taking any risk,” he says. “So we look for clients who themselves look to do things in a different and more courageous way and want a creative product that makes the difference. Producing advertising that earns them visibility and media that people will hear, see and engage with. We are open to brands, tech companies, start-ups, mainstreamers, underdogs, media, anyone. As long as we don't have to push on them why we do things in a certain way, but rather they come to us because we do what we do and they want it.”

Jörg talks about ‘ideas with candour’ - and AIN’T’s vivid, acidic green branding,- his intention is unmistakable. In a sea of sameness, he hopes that this liberated approach will unleash creativity that’s as unmissable as the vivacious spring blooms outside.