Klonhammer, McCreadie and Berthinussen launch new agency, backed by M&C Saatchi

TBWA Sydney’s ex executive creative director Gary McCreadie, Anomaly Amsterdam’s founding partner and CEO Hazelle Klonhammer, and M&C Saatchi’s former head of strategy Ross Berthinussen have joined forces to launch Ugly, a new creative agency with M&C Saatchi as a financial backer.

Gary McCreadie, Hazelle Klonhammer and Ross Berthinussen, the new Ugly team

In February, Mumbrella reported McCreadie was understood to be joining the M&C Saatchi group after departing TBWA, however a spokesperson confirmed it was instead to be a separate entity outside of the group, only partly funded by M&C Saatchi. 

A statement from Ugly said the new agency would reshape client and agency relationships and thrive on collaboration – “easy to claim, but hard to do, especially with traditional agency structiures, Ugly creates the right environment for creativity to thrive”.