Mischief Believes

Mischief is a really good ad agency. Everybody thinks so. They’ve been Ad Age’s A-List Agency of the Year & Creative Agency of the Year, Adweek's Midsize Agency of the Year, Campaign’s US Agency of the Year, Fast Company's Most Innovative Agency, and on and on. If you go to their site (mischiefusa.com), you can see why. The work speaks for itself. But you’ll also find a simple statement of their beliefs.

We’ve all seen tepid values, vision and mission statements. Usually, they’re vague platitudes drafted by committees to speak to the multitudes — then enshrined as gospel that inspires no one. One wonders, maybe these beliefs are why they consistently do great work?

THINGS WE BELIEVE TO BE TRUE

1. We are here to make a stir.

2. Indifference is the enemy; The riskiest thing we can do is be ignorable.

3. What we say "yes" to, shapes us. What we say "no" to, defines us.

4. If we focus on what makes us special, the money will follow. If we focus on the money, we will cease to be special.

5. We will never go wrong by doing the right thing.

6. Kindness is not weakness.

7. We'd rather have someone reject us for who we are, than accept us for who we aren't.

8. We're better when we are having fun.

9. When in doubt, ask yourself: what would you do if you weren't afraid?

10. We are a safe place for dangerous ideas.

Reprinted with permission, © 2025 Mischief