Buzzy creative shop Mischief @ No Fixed Address has entered the media planning and buying space.
The agency exclusively revealed to ADWEEK that it has been quietly building a media department for the past year, led by executive director of media Kristie Lee.
The group has roughly 15 people and works with brands including Duolingo, Supercell, and Peet’s Coffee. Roles on the team span comms planning, strategy, buying, analytics, and measurement.
In 2024, media planning and buying services accounted for roughly 10% of Mischief’s total net revenues. The agency declined to share revenue goals for 2025 or how much media it is managing in billings.
“Media and creative work hand-in-hand. I think separating them years ago was a mistake, and the industry suffered because of that,” said Greg Hahn, cofounder and chief creative officer at Mischief @ No Fixed Address.
Mischief provides full-service media capabilities across traditional and digital channels. While clients like Peet’s take advantage of its integrated media and creative offering, others, like Supercell and Duolingo, are standalone media clients.
“We’ve worked in places that tout integration and bespoke solutions. But the reality that I know many clients have experienced is a couple of forced IAT [integrated agency team] meetings,” said Kerry McKibbin, partner and president at Mischief @ No Fixed Address.
Mischief’s creative and media teams are integrated from the get-go, receiving a joint brief and working through research and insights together to get to a cohesive plan. “Being in the mix when creatives are brainstorming and being able to react to it as a media person makes for stronger comms plans and media plans that all work together,” Lee said.
For Peet’s, for instance, media and creative teams worked in tandem to launch a “disloyalty” program, which allowed it to conquest other coffee chains’ loyalty members with smart media placements.
“Having media and creative so integrated has enabled us to move at speeds and scale we didn’t know were possible,” said Jessica Buttimer, svp of brand and direct-to-consumer at Peet’s, in a statement.
While Mischief’s media team has pitched against holding companies, its sweet spot is working with small and midsize clients that don’t always get the attention they need from big shops, McKibbin said.
“In a larger hold co, a certain size of client may get lost…or feel that they’re getting lather, rinse, repeat plans,” she said. “We have access to the same tools and platforms that the big boys have, but we’re not in a proprietary tools arms race that the client winds up footing the bill for. We endeavor to give clients everything they need and nothing they don’t, and for that small to mid-sized client, that’s exactly the right fit.”
