Mirza appoints execs for start-up Responsible Marketing Agency

The body content of yThe Responsible Marketing Agency’s founder Hannah Mirza has appointed a trio of key lieutenants to her new ethically-minded agency, including her ex-MediaCom partner Liam Brennan.

Brennan has joined as managing director, alongside ex-Mindshare strategist Alice Brady as chief strategy officer and Clare Latham, previously of consultancy Flock Associates, as global programme director.

Mirza and Brennan launched Blink Consulting in 2015 at WPP’s MediaCom (now EssenceMediacom, the UK’s largest media agency), which has worked for major advertisers including Mars and Coca-Cola.

Brennan said: “Responsible marketing is a hot discussion point right now, but brands can struggle to find a place to start. Too often, it’s seen as a value-add for agencies as opposed to something that can really drive a business forward. I’m excited to help bridge that gap — doing the right thing, making media and marketing fit for progress whilst giving brands a clear path to success and helping deliver tangible, and quantified, results.”

Brady has spent the majority of her career in large media agencies as a strategist on household name brands including ITV, Marks & Spencer and Unilever. At Mindshare, also a WPP (GroupM) agency, she was responsible for Grow@Mindshare, where she supported newer brands such as Depop, Graze and Elvie to realise their next stage of growth.

“As a strategist I’ve encountered too much ‘nice thinking’, and as an industry we’re prone to paying lip service to big issues,” she said. “My biggest ambition is that we transform to integrate ESG into the everyday work of our clients and the industry. That’s where it can add the most value — rather being viewed as an additional workload by clients and agencies alike.”

Lathan, meanwhile, originally trained as a journalist before moving into programme management at digital agencies and consultancies, working alongside major FMCG brands including Diageo, Unilever, Wrigley, L’Oreal and Beiersdorf. At Flock Associates, she led digital and media transformation programmes for clients to drive growth and future-proof their business. 

Also published in: The Media Leader