Carl Johnson backs Anomaly off-shoot

Duncan Bird, co-founder of Soul, is launching a new agency in New York backed by Carl Johnson, founder of the marketing agency Anomaly. Bird, vice president of brand partnerships at Sony BMG, has already signed up Coca-Cola and the Association of American Advertisers as clients.

The agency, which will be called Another Anomaly, aims to be a “hybrid somewhere between an agency and manufacturer”. It will concentrate on areas such brand strategy and product licensing and will take a share in the royalities.

Bird says: “The primary focus is on creating and launching products and services that create intellectual property that can be exploited. We are not an advertising agency.”

There is a founding team of ten staff including Natasha Jakubowski, partner and strategic director at the consultancy, Redscout.

Carl Johnson, a former chief operating officer of TBWA, launched Anomaly in 2004. The new agency will sit separately to Anomaly.