The World: Anomaly's pioneering approach entices Byrne.(contracts)

Wieden & Kennedy's Nike chief is joining a New York hotshop that is shaking up the ad agency model. Lucy Aitken reports.

Just imagine. You're the creative director for Nike at Wieden & Kennedy Portland. You have worked for the network for the best part of a decade and kept the trophy cupboard full of glittering prizes. What's your next move?

'I couldn't go to a big ad agency,' Mike Byrne, the creative brain behind Nike's 2002 Cannes Grand Prix-winning 'tag' spot, says with a palpable shudder. Instead, he has chosen to move to Manhattan to join Anomaly, a creative hotshop that opened in 2004 and is eyeing Asia and mainland Europe for future expansion.

What is the agency's appeal for someone of Byrne's calibre? 'Anomaly has ambition, and that's the biggest attraction,' he says.

'I am inspired by the pedigree of the people. This is the best job in advertising. It's the job that you leave W&K for.'

As you might expect from its name, Anomaly is no ordinary advertising agency; it is more of a response to the countless calls for agencies to drag themselves into the 21st century.

Here's a quick recap of just three of the bugbears with the traditional ad agency model. First, advertisers bleat that agencies understand their advertising needs but not their business requirements. Second, clients are still not entirely convinced that they are being sold the most appropriate solution for their needs just because their agencies have incorporated the words 'media neutral' into their credentials. Third, the Ogilvy scandal over doctored time-sheets, and Interpublic's refunds to Tesco and Weetabix as a result of over-charging, are just two examples of what is wrong with how agencies charge for their work.