Stagwell (STGW) Digital-First Creative Agency Code and Theory Launches Industry's First Holistic Inclusive Design and Marketing Strategy Discipline

Kirstyn Nimmo, an award-winning social impact strategist behind the White House-recognized #IAmAMan campaign for criminal punishment reform, the Nestlé Purina partnership that opened NYC's first pet-friendly domestic violence shelters, and launched the Anthem Award Winning Yahoo Allyship Pledge to provide education about the Black experience in America and more, will serve as Group Director.

Nimmo's 14 years of social impact expertise will be applied to existing Code and Theory work streams across the agency, enhancing an already strong set of digital-first deliverables. She is tasked with building a diverse team of creatives, strategists and technologists to ensure every agency output is inclusive at its core; helping brands resonate with today's diverse consumers, and increase retention among employees. To date, the agency has delivered breakthrough results while amassing an impressive body of inclusive work with The Washington Commanders, Con Edison, Adidas, National Council on Aging, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few.

Diverse consumers are transforming the U.S. mainstream; representing the most dynamic and fastest-growing segment of the U.S. consumer economy and a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for brands.  For Code and Theory, the demand has never been greater as clients are actively seeking insight and expertise in this space.

"Over a decade ago, it was exciting to witness the industry recognizing the importance of diversity and multicultural marketing, but modern consumers are demanding more than that," explains Nimmo. "The pandemic and recent racial justice movements led to collective and individual changes in identity, agency, and accountability. Those events paved the way for an expanded focus on inclusion, where brands can honor consumers' intersectional identities. Brands have the chance to evolve and accurately reflect our culture's complexities and we're proud to answer that call." 

"ID&M's purpose is to approach Inclusivity the same way we have approached Digital Transformation for decades, which is to connect the dots for consumers and brands at every touchpoint," says Dan Gardner, Founder and Executive Chairman, Code and Theory, "I am beyond thrilled to have Kirstyn join Code and Theory. Brands that want to tap into this massive market opportunity and realize a strong ROI – a return-on-inclusion – will benefit from her expertise on how to authentically embrace inclusion as a strategy and not a tactic across all areas of their business, including marketing and communications."

The establishment of the discpline aligns with the agency's commitment to being an anti-racist company. In 2021, Code and Theory hired its first Chief Diversity Officer, Renée Miller, and has since developed its 5% Shifts framework, which compels the agency to continuously revisit progress against all of their DEI commitments, and helps clients make real shifts which result in measurable change.

"At Code and Theory we knew that an ongoing commitment to growing a racially and ethnically diverse staff, wide-ranging in age and identities, would continuously expand our ability to bring our clients cutting edge, intersectional thinking that transforms business and impacts across our clients services, platforms and campaign ecosystems. By putting inclusion at the core of our agency, it's become a clear focus in our work, birthing this new ID&M discipline." added Renée Miller, Chief Diversity Officer, Code and Theory.

As part of the effort to drive brand evolution, the ID&M discipline created Words Up, an industry writing guide intended to bring inclusive discourse and collaboration surrounding language. Nimmo adds, "As marketers and builders grounded in digital spaces, we help clients reach people all over the world, and it's critical that language resonates in the right ways, in the right places. When brands use inclusive language, they invite communities in, grow their audiences and create brand love with consumers they may have failed to recognize in the past."  Additionally, Nimmo and the ID&M team created a Linkedin Group and Discord channel for creative and brand professionals to further collaborate, share resources and knowledge in real time.

To learn more about Code and Theory's Inclusive Marketing and Design discipline, please visit here.

To learn more about Code and Theory's DEI framework visit here.

To access the first edition of Words Up, please visit  here.

Click here to request access to the ID&M Linkedin Group and Discord Channel here.

About Code and Theory
Born in 2001, Code and Theory is a digital-first creative agency that sits at the center of creativity and technology. With a global client roster of Fortune 100s and start-ups alike, we crave the hardest problems to solve and create end-to-end solutions that flex to meet the needs of today's ever-changing digital landscape.

About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com

Media Contact

For Code and Theory
Natalie Black
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For Stagwell
Brandon Dixon
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SOURCE Stagwell Inc.