Otherway Expands to US, Hires MullenLowe Vet Javier Passerieu as President

Photo, left to right: Jono Holt and Javier Passerieu
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Javier ‘Javi’ Passerieu, former president of MullenLowe LA, has joined design and creative studio Otherway to lead the launch of its New York office. The London-based agency is expanding into the US following steady growth in the market.

Otherway’s biggest North American project to date launched during the Super Bowl this February – a full rebrand for mortgage lender Rocket Companies. Over the 12 months prior to advertising’s biggest stage, Otherway partnered closely with Rocket – spearheaded by its CMO Jonathan Mildenhall – on a comprehensive brand restage to bring a more inclusive and meaningful visual identity to one of America’s leading financial services businesses. Following work with startups like sustainable healthcare brand Cabinet Health, Otherway now counts larger US businesses such as Coinbase and StockX among its clients.

Jono Holt, founder and CEO of Otherway – which joined the communications and entertainment group Common Interest last year – believes Javi is the perfect person to lead the US expansion. Why? His instant connection not just with the business, but, “most importantly,” with its people. “He shares our ambition for doing things differently,” he says, speaking with LBB and referencing the meaning behind the agency’s name: a promise in a change in direction and a desire to not follow the same path as everyone else. “Mainly because that would be boring,” he adds, “but also because we see massive opportunity in the market right now as brands want to switch away from the more traditional approaches that just aren’t working like they used to. Javi has a real entrepreneurial spirit and that’s what we think it is going to take to create a studio in New York City that isn’t like the rest. He’s full of energy and, like us, looks at the current US market with an ambitious belief that we can offer something better to brands.”

“It sounds clichéd,” adds Javi, “but that doesn't make it less true. The people were the first immediate magnet.” After meeting Jono and fellow partners Ben Lewin and Stu Finlayson, he felt that they clicked right away. “We spoke the same language, shared the same values and ambitions,” says Javi. “I always say: work with people that you admire, and everything else will follow.”

What’s more, after many years of big holding company advertising agencies, Javi was ready for something new and different. “Something that would take me out of my comfort zone and would allow me to change, reinvent myself, and grow in a different way. And I believe Otherway is ahead of the game in understanding what brands need in this new business landscape in America.”

Otherway’s expertise, says Jono, is its bringing together of design and communication skills, a selling point since its inception in London 12 years ago. They don’t “just hand clients a pretty brand book and wish them luck,” instead partnering with creative teams and sticking around for the journey. “The best work is always all in the execution,” says Jono. “We can not only bring a big new vision to a business but also roll up our sleeves to make it all happen.”

As such, he and Javi believe there is a huge opportunity in the US as the lines between design and advertising continue to blur. What’s more, as product price hikes show no signs of slowing, they think that brands need to continue to “premiumise”. That is, to defend higher prices, they need to design in better quality across every single touchpoint. “And not just once, every single day,” adds Jono. “That’s hard and requires highly skilled teams that can work at speed and can deliver both the big campaigns and obsess over the smaller details.”

Another major selling point is cost. As with consumer goods, high-quality creative and design work in the US can also set you back a pretty penny, making it difficult for brands to employ the highest quality design and creative talent beyond just one off products. Otherway, meanwhile, wants to build an extension of its London studio in New York with an aim for it to feel like one team across two locations. “There's a big fear in the market about AI,” says Javi. But, in his view, there's been a bigger one creeping for longer: globalisation.

“I believe US brands are looking for better output and services, but without having to pay the multiple layers from the agency side,” he adds. “They want their investment to go into makers, to work with your best talent, and access them without losing an arm and a leg. And we can offer premium craft and output, with real client collaboration, by building one global team where brands will be able to access exceptional talent through our entire offering in Europe and America.”

“Our model,” adds Jono, “means we can give US brands continuous access to some of the very best design and creative talent at a fraction of what it would cost in America.”

Having worked with legacy brands like Fortnum & Mason and Heineken in the UK, Jono and Javi are keen and ready to help more established US brands “blow the cobwebs off” and evolve to be much more relevant to a new generation of people. “There’s pretty much one sleeping (slightly dusty) giant in every market,” says Jono.

Rocket is a prime example of a brand that in their eyes was operating within a significant category without any real focus on the quality of the brand. “Getting a mortgage is pretty much the most emotional purchase decision we can all make in our lives,” says Jono. “But when you look at the market there was no brand recognising this.” The new brand platform, ‘Help Everyone Home’, was created in close partnership with creative agency Mirimar with the intention of developing two routes for the brand moving forward – “evolution and revolution”.

“Rocket was the first opportunity we had to apply our skills to a big US brand and it's been super successful,” says Jono. “The key for us is how we partner up with the internal teams to make change happen quickly and effectively together. The unique mix we bring of British sensibility combined with big American ambition is the key. You’ve got to find a way to craft the good bits and transform the bad whilst taking everyone on the journey. Iconic brands are a product of the highest levels of consistent execution. Our model means we then continue to work closely with the teams to roll it out and help execute when in market.”

Moving forward, Javi is focused on short term priorities that feed into a more long-term vision. “Hiring exceptional talent, keeping nurturing our US clients, and bringing new brands that want us for what we do best: Launching the new, or transforming the established,” he says of his immediate tasks. “Success will be not just growing, but growing towards what we want to become, emulating Otherway's success and culture in the UK, but with an American spin.”