Memory co-founders Ian Mackenzie, left, and Ryan Bullock
Acclaimed creative leader Ian Mackenzie and former CMO and Juliet president Ryan Bullock have teamed up to launch Memory, a full-service brand performance agency that aims to unite emotional connection with tangible results.
Memory’s co-founders tell strategy that the agency’s cross-functional savvy is a differentiator for brands looking to execute creative ideas spanning data, technology and media.
“We’re passionate about threading creativity through technology and down the funnel where it doesn’t always thrive or get the love it deserves,” Mackenzie says. “We are excited to work with clients across the customer journey from the upper funnel, big emotive brand work, through to lower funnel, performance-oriented conversion work, all the way through into loyalty.”
Mackenzie takes up the position of CCO at Memory after stepping away from his role as McCann Worldgroup Canada’s CCO and global AI creative lead earlier this year. Prior to McCann, Mackenzie was CCO at Performance Art, CCO of FCB/Six and executive creative director at KBS.
He’s been awarded Grand Prix-level honours in Creative Data at Cannes, a Black Pencil at D&AD, Best of the Best at One Show and a Global Grand Effie.
He’s co-created on work such as McDonald’s “Our Food. Your Questions” food transparency platform, PFLA’s “Destination Pride” data visualization campaign and Black & Abroad’s “See You There” rollout, which explored algorithmic biases in AI.
Bullock brings insight from leadership roles on both the client and agency sides. The former president of Juliet also held senior leadership roles at Recipe Unlimited where he contributed to client relationships and long-term growth strategy.
The pair met more than 10 years while Mackenzie was a copywriter at KBS working on a campaign for Recipe Unlimited brand The Keg, for whom Bullock was the VP of marketing at the time.
“I always kept an eye on what was going on in our industry and I always admired what Ian was doing,” Bullock tells strategy. “There’s a lot of great agencies that do great, high powered creative but then don’t focus on the cross functionality or conversion as much as Ian does. I think that’s part of the reason why I’m excited to partner with Ian because I knew what I wanted as a client. I know Ian focuses on that, and I’m excited to bring that to new clients.”
The pair weren’t prepared to divulge client names but said the first work from Memory should be hitting the market in the next three to four weeks. As of Tuesday’s launch, the agency is working with small group of staff that Mackenzie says will grow over time to have the capacity to execute projects of any size.
“You need people who can handle a wide range of marketing challenges, but you also sometimes need world-class specialists to tackle specific client asks,” Mackenzie says. “So that’s the plan right now. It’s a small core team to start that’s going to grow steadily over time and then be supported by world-class specialists.”
