An Agency with External Perspective and In-House Heart

Founded in late 2023, Otoh was designed to “integrate where others fragment.” It’s an agency partner that embraces in-house experience and changing brand expectations mixed with out-of-house agility and evolving consumer experiences. Their name 'On the other hand', is a reminder of this.

In its first six months alone, Otoh’s work went live across four continents spanning live experiences, social activations and integrated campaign thinking.

Working with Nike, it created engagement loops across IRL and Social activations for Asia-Pacific and Latin America, and has gone on to guide global OOH, film, social, app, content, and web design across Nike’s other teams. Highly crafted, newly integrated approaches for one of the world’s most present consumer brands.

“We believe brand building and demand generation can and should happen together. That long-lead storytelling and short-lead acquisition aren’t opposites, and that brand heritage and timely cultural relevance can and must coexist,” says Janna, Otoh’s managing director.

Otoh developed Quip’s most successful product launch campaign in its ten-year history, and collaborated with Jordan Brand to define Jayson Tatum’s brand persona and shape their now iconic Zero Pressure campaign, featuring Vince Staples. Tubi, the free streaming service, also tapped the agency to create its B2B product marketing design, illustration, tone of voice and more.

Matt adds, “Advertising is no longer a baton pass between ‘the Agency’ and ‘the Client’, it’s a three-legged race with trusted partners."

On top of this, Otoh gave back to the community, working closely with the Children’s Hospital LA on its first advertising campaign in eight years.

Otoh’s cross-functional work is made possible by their diverse agency structure driven by the founders’ opposite experiences and perspectives. From their ECD, Matt Heck, comes Otoh’s continued start-up energy, gleaned from his time in Sydney as The Monkeys’ (now Droga5) first overseas hire and later 72andSunny’s first creative director in Amsterdam. Through this journey he learnt, “how to create work that connects on a human level to resonate globally,” and that “the key to world-class creative is showing up with the same energy and craft, no matter the size of the brief or budget.”

While Otoh’s MD, Janna's experience lies on the tech and production side with the likes of Google and RSA films. Her in-house background, working across every level of delivery, has shaped how Otoh collaborates with brand partners.

Janna says, “Throughout my in-house career, especially in tech, I realised my teams couldn’t just be creative or technical producers. We were accountable for the work, how it landed across marketing teams, and ultimately how it connected to business goals. That gave us an invaluable skill: knowing how to talk about the work in ways that built trust and flexibility while protecting its integrity.”

Implementing that sense of closeness to Otoh, Janna explains, “We bring that in-house muscle memory to every partnership. It’s not just about a creative or strategy deliverable. It’s a tight-knit, collaborative process built on trust, cross-functional planning, and a shared desire to make work that connects across all channels in unexpected, meaningful ways.

Offering the best of both, Matt and Janna add, “We came from different sides of the industry, but saw the same need. Brands aren’t looking for another agency. They’re looking for a partner who could work alongside them, not just deliver to them.”

“We’re not trying to fix an advertising model from the outside,” they explain. “We’re helping to continually evolve it from within.”

Ambitious to Evolve

The agency’s experience and agile structure positions it to work in-stride as embedded collaborators. Able to move fast and fuse brand, product, and digital to stay ahead of ever-shifting consumer behaviour and evolving channels.

With creativity at the heart, the agency embraces technology as a means of enhancing its capabilities, “We see technology not as a threat to creativity, but as a skeleton key capable of unlocking any weird and wonderful door we can imagine,” Matt says.

Janna adds, “And in a world where consumer journeys and algorithms can change ten times before the work hits market, that deep tech stack and IP protection knowledge is built into our core.”

The agency’s collaboration and work is being recognised for its commitment to delivering stand-out, effective results.

Nike Creative Director applauded Otoh’s “Passion for storytelling, brimming with smart, witty, thoughtful and fresh ideas, plus always going above and beyond the brief, are just some of the many qualities that make Otoh an absolute joy to partner with. They make us look good.”

Tom Johnstone, CMO of Quip, shared, “Only call Otoh if you want great work. Don’t bother if you’re motivated by ‘meh’... the results make for bold work, brilliantly made that makes brands move the needle, in culture, in categories and in performance.”

This all-in attitude is embedded in Otoh’s company culture, which is built around empathy and letting “autonomy, ownership, and curiosity thrive.” With constant momentum and agility, Janna and Matt say that their favourite people to hire are “restless Swiss Army knives. Folks who can zoom out to see the big picture, but also love crafting the details at every omnichannel touchpoint.”

Looking ahead, Otoh is ambitious to evolve alongside the industry. As it grows in complexity, they will continue to “keep redefining what it means to be a true creative partner: making effective work that’s not only world-class, but making the process collaborative, energising, and indispensable.”

What began in Tokyo, as Matt and Janna hopped between three concurrent sets by day and reviewed interactive design night, became an agency built for change. As their website says, “and everything was never the same”. Otoh.agency​