Introducing Mission North

From our first days as Bateman Group, we set out to make an outsized impact for our clients through an atypical set of core values and an approach to communications that factors the dynamics shaping our field. As we spent the last year reflecting on our past and rearchitecting our vision for the future, it became clear we needed a new identity. We’re launching it today — Bateman Group is now Mission North.

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Mission North embodies our intention to make a positive impact and our drive to keep growing and innovating. We’re inspired by our amazing team and have never been more energized by the future that lies ahead. We’ve built our agency around the belief that a story can change everything when the right audience gets behind it. This thesis still guides us with an eye toward the changing landscape for media and audience attention. 

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In conjunction with our rebrand, we are announcing a new leadership team following some bittersweet news. After more than 16 years as CEO and founder, Fred Bateman decided he is ready for new challenges and that the time is right for him to pass the reins of the company to his three co-owners. He is an entrepreneur at heart who is happiest when he is working hands-on with innovative technology companies to put them on the map and on a path to market leadership. Fred plans to continue doing this, albeit on a smaller scale, for the foreseeable future. We’re very grateful to Fred for his visionary leadership, which guided us to build a really special agency together, and we feel assured about our future mutual success.

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With Fred’s transition, we are honored to lead Mission North’s next chapter as the agency’s new co-CEOs with our partner and general manager of west coast operations, Shannon Hutto. We’re also excited to announce the appointment of three executive team members who will collaborate with us on setting Mission North’s evolving direction in the coming decade. Our new executive team includes Nicole Messier, executive vice president and general manager for New York, Gillian Davis, head of people, and Michael Andrews, CFO. Nicole, Gillian and Michael bring decades of combined experience working in leadership positions on the agency side and in-house at companies like Edelman, Tesla and Fort Point Beer, respectively.

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What’s next for Mission North?

We are constantly thinking about the future of our field and its evolving role in shaping brands, businesses and socio-political movements. It is one of the most promising and anxiety-inducing times to work in strategic communications. There are now limitless ways for companies to reach their audiences — but truly engaging and influencing them has never been harder. Attention is scarce; moreover, newsrooms are shrinking and it is much more difficult to earn meaningful media. Breaking through to an audience takes a deep understanding of who they are, how they get information and the best ways to inspire them. 

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Winning in this climate still requires a distinctive brand story and identity. It also requires tighter integration of PR, content and digital programs across earned, owned and paid media. We’re evolving our strategic capabilities to help our clients turn their most pivotal moments into growth opportunities at every stage, whether they’re launching from stealth, scaling up or securing their leadership positions.

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How? We now have a single product team uniting our specialty practices at Mission North — media, digital, content, speaking, data, and design — and an integrated mindset powering our work. Over the next year, we’ll be investing heavily in these product capabilities to ensure our campaigns are making the biggest impact.

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This succession in our leadership structure and the rebrand comes after tremendous achievements that Fred, Shannon and the two of us are really proud of. The most significant achievement is our culture, which has allowed us to nurture a strong and special community of employees, alumni, clients, advocates and friends. There’s no team we’d rather have with us on the mission ahead. 

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With gratitude,

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Bill & Tyler