A HUNDRED YEARS
Helping an agency dedicated to the
long-view to realize its potential
Some of my most successful engagements are those where I’m given the freedom to be completely audacious. Why do those projects stand out? Because in them I access the kind of creative gold that internal teams often can’t. It’s not because the talent isn’t there—it’s because some things simply can’t be seen from inside an organization. Sometimes, it takes fresh eyes and a person completely unbound by the status quo to uncover opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
This was the case with Seso Media Group. What started as a straightforward engagement to assist with a few client projects quickly evolved into something much more transformative as I began to see untapped potential in their brand itself.
Initially, I came on board to assist with a few client projects, but the more I learned about the agency, the more I found myself wondering: Why such a boring name? So, I asked.
But here’s the funny part—they had just gone through a rebrand. A specialized naming agency had delivered a new name and visual identity, but the team didn’t love it, so was hesitating to launch it. When they showed it to me, I was equally nonplussed.
That’s one thing about working with me that you should know. For better or worse, you can always count on me for an honest opinion.
Call it hubris, or call it the confidence born from experience, but I felt certain that I could do better. So, I made the unlikely pitch for them to do one more go-around of naming with me. Unexpectedly, they agreed.
As a creative studio with an extraordinary roster of clients—names like NASA, TED, The Smithsonian Institute, Clinton Foundation, UCLA Health, World
Wildlife Fund, Disney, Mattel, Pew Charitable Trusts, and the X Prize Foundation—I felt they deserved a name that was as expansive as their big-thinking clients, and the even bigger-thinking team behind the work.
The abridged creative brief I gave myself? Create a name that makes someone look upwards and diagonal, out into the distance, evoking curiosity and wonder. Working closely through several collaborative rounds, I arrived at a name that felt like it encapsulated the agency’s vision, living up to its grand aspirations for itself and its clients: A Hundred Years.
Just beyond the span of a typical human lifetime, the name speaks to the long view—what we’re working toward and what we’ll leave behind after we’re gone. It gave the company leadership a fresh perspective, providing a natural lens for framing conversations about sustainability and impact with their clients. More than just a name, it became a new ethos from which the agency could operate.
When the end of the year came and it was time to send out a holiday gift, I proposed commissioning an artist to create prints from a 100-year-old tree. I felt that the idea aligned with the company’s new narrative, adding meaning and depth to the gesture. The team brought this concept to life, producing a video that captured the story behind it all. They delivered the limited-edition prints in beautiful branded packaging for their mailing list of former clients and friends to enjoy for years to come.
Now, years later, I see how the name has not just resonated with what the agency was, but also, what it has become. Marc, the company CEO, put it best when he had this to say:
"Alli was the driving force in the rebranding process of our firm, leading an effort that created an overwhelming positive response from current and prospective clients and opening an entirely new field of business for our studio. She challenged conventions by drawing from a deep creativity in her strategic approach and was incredibly resourceful in the execution of key strategies. Her ability to go from the 10,000 foot view to the hands-on crafting of messaging all the way to the production of our launch event is unmatched - as is her ability to see and make connections that allow an idea to become reality."
