Zambezi Joins Worldwide Partners Independent Agency Network

​Zambezi has recently joined the Worldwide Partners (WPI) global network of independent agencies. Zambezi is the largest full-service, female-owned agency in America. The independent agency is headquartered in Los Angeles with a second office in Minneapolis.

A Creative Heart 

Founded in 2006 by expats from Wieden+Kennedy to focus on sports-related marketing, Zambezi has grown into a fully-integrated agency across creative, media, production, and social. 

Creative is the core of the independent agency. Whether it’s brand strategy and consulting, cultural and consumer insights, communications strategy, media planning and buying, or content production, their world-class creative ideas and development are what inform and guide every campaign.

The agency also has three in-house divisions to focus on crucial areas of today’s advertising landscape: Scale by Zambezi, a media planning and buying division that provides a holistic approach between media and creative; FIN Studios, an in-house production studio specializing in creating compelling content and efficient execution across all formats; and School by Zambezi, a social media department developing platform-specific content to meet business objectives in an efficient and nimble way. “Our heart is in creative and creativity,” said Jean Freeman, Principal and CEO of Zambezi. “All of our divisions and strengths come from that.”

Take Bigger Bites Ethos

At the core of all of these divisions is their agency ethos 'Take Bigger Bites'. 

“This is our constant challenge to go above and beyond for ourselves and our partners,” Jean shared. “We are committed to generating impact disproportionate to spend, to creating measurable value growth in the form of incremental profitable sales, and to putting work out in the world that elevates popular discourse.” This philosophy requires a fluid collaboration between the departments from start to finish, allowing Zambezi to make relevant creative that cuts through the noise. 

Be Like the Shark

Like their namesake, the zambezi shark, which is the only of its kind that thrives in both fresh and saltwater, the agency’s biggest strength is its ability to adapt in any environment. Whether it’s sports, tech, CPG, or food service, Zambezi is able to flex and scale to meet the evolving needs of clients and changing behaviors of consumers.

Because of this adaptability, Zambezi has thrived over the past couple of years in our post-covid, hybrid world. Their nimble approach and focus on dynamic content creation at scale has allowed them to guide brands through changes in the roles of creative and content creators, and how that fits into overall marketing plans and budgets. “How and where you connect with your audience has never been more important,” said Jean. “There is a measurable difference between doing it authentically and driving results to missing the mark and not being seen as authentic.” Zambezi’s ability to integrate offerings for brands, and do it quickly, is more relevant and important than ever before. 

The NeverEnding StoryTelling

With all of the changes happening in the industry and the world, there’s one thing that Zambezi knows hasn’t changed – the need for great storytelling. “Regardless of platform or media type, the greatest brand stories, told in the most compelling and creative ways, is what will always prevail,” said Gavin Lester, Zambezi’s chief creative officer.

It’s this focus on creativity and storytelling that has led Zambezi to be twice-named AdAge Small Agency of the Year and, most recently, to win the Under Armour account as global creative development lead for 2023 brand campaigns. 

It has also produced incredibly powerful and successful work, like their “Welcome to the Traegerhood” campaign for Traeger Grills. This fully integrated campaign focused on the brand’s ideals of community and togetherness, leveraging a high-level brand awareness spot, mini farm billboard stunt outside Salt Lake City, as well as numerous social, digital and out-of-home elements to welcome consumers into the Traegerhood. Traeger’s revenue doubled YOY during the campaign period.

The most recent spots for “Welcome to the Traegerhood” offer a clever twist on some of life’s biggest moments, continuing to showcase how Traeger brings people together through all occasions.  

Power of the Independent Agency 

Zambezi is already taking advantage of the Worldwide Partners network, collaborating with other partners for consultations in strategic and creative development on pitches and current client work and looks forward to the ongoing benefits of membership. 

“We believe in the power of the independent agency, and in finding like-minded, innovative companies around the world to work with,” Jean shared. “We’re excited by the bespoke solutions we can create by partnering with the right teams in the exact regions our clients need, allowing us to be able to adapt and scale on with a far larger footprint.”

“Zambezi’s work is clever, innovative and bold, and drives results for their clients,” said John Harris, CEO of Worldwide Partners. “They’re one of the top independent creative agencies in the US, and we’re pleased to bring their expertise and thinking into the WPI network.”