Esther Lee of MetLife: Argonaut is a big ideas agency

Argonaut is now the new creative agency of MetLife after an agency review initiated by the insurance company in March 2015 and handled by Select Resources. The review was promoted by MetLife’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Esther Lee, who joined the company in December. Lee explained that she initiated the pitch because she wanted to have a clear marketing agenda. “I saw that at MetLife there was not a lot of energy around the bigger story of the brand” she said. “We needed an agency that could create this platform and do detailed communication.” For Lee, the executives at Argonaut are guys with big ideas. “They have mastered the art of figuring out how to express a truth about a company in a clear, simple and profound way.” She added that the review was cut short, and didn’t have agencies present in a final round. “We realized Argonaut was such a strong front runner that it didn’t make sense to finish the review.” Rick Condos, CCO at Argonaut said that part of the appeal of working on MetLife was the chance to make it iconic. As the company grows more globally, they need a “simple iconic idea that can travel around the world, and that’s the stuff we get pretty excited about.”