Best Branding Agencies in New York (2026)

Introduction

New York is where corporate identity began as a profession, and it still has more brand consultancies than any other US city. The 15 agencies below cover naming, positioning, identity systems and full rebrands, and were chosen for recent work, 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the quality of their client lists.

Ownership in the sector moved a good deal over the past year. After completing its acquisition of IPG at the end of 2025, Omnicom grouped Interbrand, Siegel+Gale, Sterling Brands and Wolff Olins under Omnicom Branding, while FutureBrand's global leadership left and its staff were folded into McCann. WPP formed WPP Creative in February 2026 and said it would keep its agency brands separate; in May it gave Landor's chief executive, Jane Geraghty, charge of a wider WPP Brand & Design group. Independents, from Red Antler to Porto Rocha, continue to win large rebrands on their own.

Every agency here has an active New York office in 2026. The list is in no order of merit, since the right choice depends on the size of the change you need, your budget and how you like to work.

The best branding agencies in New York

1. Red Antler

Independent · Brooklyn · redantler.com

Red Antler was founded in 2007 by JB Osborne and Emily Heyward and made its name building brands for venture-backed start-ups. It now sits inside Red Antler Group, alongside Fat Earth (performance marketing and a creator studio launched in 2026) and Wild Fruit, which designs presentations for funds and founders. Its rebrand platform for McKinsey, "What's Your Next Brilliant Move", won Gold for Rebrand or Relaunch at The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas 2026.

The client list leans towards technology and consumer companies: Hinge, AllTrails, Ramp, Chime, Archer and Cotopaxi. Red Antler handles advertising as well as identity, which suits companies that want one team from naming through to launch.

2. Lippincott

Part of Marsh · Midtown Manhattan · lippincott.com

Lippincott has been based in New York since it was founded in 1943, and J. Gordon Lippincott is credited with coining the term "corporate identity". It is now part of Marsh Management Consulting, after Marsh McLennan brought its businesses under the single Marsh name in January 2026, a masterbrand Lippincott itself designed.

Its best-known recent project is Korean Air's first rebrand in 40 years, launched in March 2025 alongside the airline's merger with Asiana. Other current work includes Qnity, Humane World for Animals, Bibigo and LendingTree. Lippincott suits large organisations going through mergers, spin-offs or a change of name.

3. Landor

Owned by WPP · Park Avenue South · landor.com

Landor is one of the largest brand consultancies in the world, with around 1,300 people in 30 locations. WPP has owned it since 1989. It merged with Fitch in 2021 and reverted to the Landor name in 2023, and in 2026 its chief executive also took charge of WPP Brand & Design, which groups Landor with Design Bridge and Partners, amp, ManvsMachine and others.

Recent work includes Nike Kids, the Milan Symphony Orchestra and the identity for New York Golf Club. Landor's offer covers consulting, design and experience, with sonic branding through amp, so it suits clients who want strategy and execution under one roof.

4. Design Bridge and Partners

Owned by WPP · New York · designbridge.com

Design Bridge and Partners formed in 2023 when WPP merged Design Bridge with Superunion. It has about 900 people across 16 studios and describes itself as the most awarded brand design agency in the world, citing 28 Cannes Lions and 269 D&AD Pencils.

Clients include NASA Artemis, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Mastercard and Twitch. Its packaging heritage is strong, which makes it a sound choice for consumer goods portfolios. The New York studio also takes on smaller civic work, such as an accessible identity for CO_LAB Theater Group.

5. Interbrand

Owned by Omnicom · New York · interbrand.com

Interbrand is known as much for measuring brands as for making them. Its annual Best Global Brands ranking, last published in 2025 with Apple at the top, is the most cited brand valuation study in the industry. It is part of Omnicom Branding, led by Mark O'Brien, and introduced a new identity of its own, designed in-house, in mid-2026.

Recent case studies include Kia's first rebrand in 30 years, an identity evolution for LEGO, Bugatti's repositioning and the Ford Racing identity. Interbrand is a natural fit for clients who want brand strategy linked to financial value.

6. Siegel+Gale

Owned by Omnicom · Third Avenue, Midtown · siegelgale.com

Alan Siegel and Robert Gale founded the firm in New York in 1969, and Omnicom acquired it in 2003. The New York headquarters on Third Avenue leads a network of seven offices. The agency's long-running theme is simplicity, and it publishes an annual study of the world's simplest brands.

Recent work includes Cotality's brand transformation (2025), Bristol Myers Squibb, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Micron and Blue Cross NC. It is strongest on B2B, healthcare and financial services, and on naming and brand architecture after mergers.

7. Wolff Olins

Owned by Omnicom · Third Avenue, Midtown · wolffolins.com

Wolff Olins was founded in London in 1965 and has had a New York office for many years. It sits within Omnicom Branding and is led by global CEO Sairah Ashman. Its global executive creative director, Emma Barratt, sat on the 2026 Cannes Lions Design shortlisting jury.

New York clients include the New York Botanical Garden, whose hand-drawn identity was widely covered by the design press, The Met and Bergdorf Goodman. Further afield it works with Lloyds, Decathlon, Blank Street and Patreon.

8. Sterling Brands

Owned by Omnicom · Third Avenue, Midtown · sterlingbrands.com

Sterling specialises in brand identity and packaging for consumer products, and is the fourth agency in Omnicom Branding. Its New York studio shares a building with Siegel+Gale and Wolff Olins, and it has further offices in Cincinnati and San Francisco.

Current clients include Hershey, Stouffer's, Welch's, Goldfish, Albertsons Own Brands and Microsoft. Sterling is a practical choice for brands that live on shelves and need packaging systems that work across large ranges.

9. Prophet

Independent · Flatiron · prophet.com

Prophet was founded in 1992 by Scott Galloway and Ian Chaplin and remains independent, with around 600 people in 15 offices. Its New York office is on Broadway. It describes itself as a growth consultancy, and in 2026 it launched an agentic AI platform, MAIA, and acquired JBi Digital.

Clients include JetBlue, UBS, The North Face and AB InBev. In 2025 Prophet led Cracker Barrel's logo change, which the chain reversed within days after public criticism and then ended the relationship. Prophet is best suited to brand work tied closely to business strategy and growth.

10. Koto

Independent, with private equity investment · New York · koto.com

Koto started in London and now has studios in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin and Sydney. It took investment from WestBridge in 2025 and has since added Stereo Creative, forming a group of about 230 people.

The New York studio led Amazon's first brand overhaul in 25 years, unveiled in May 2025 after 18 months of work across more than 50 sub-brands. Other recent projects include Tripadvisor's 2025 refresh and the identity for Microsoft's Copilot+ PC category.

11. JKR

Independent · SoHo · jkrglobal.com

JKR (formerly Jones Knowles Ritchie) has been in business since 1990 and runs two hubs, London and New York, with the New York studio on Spring Street. Its approach, summed up as "Be Distinctive Everywhere", tends to amplify the assets a brand already owns.

The past year brought two of the most visible identity projects in the world: KFC's "Bucketverse" system, rolling out from June 2026, and a Coca-Cola refresh published in July 2026. In 2025 JKR also renamed the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as Blood Cancer United. Its New York studio has a long history with Budweiser.

12. Gretel

Independent · Brooklyn · gretelny.com

Gretel is a Brooklyn strategy and design studio with a strong record in culture, sport and media. Its rebrand of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2025 included a short-lived name change; in February 2026 the museum restored its original name but kept Gretel's griffin logo and visual identity.

Other recent work includes LOVB (League One Volleyball), Hart Bageri's expansion and Finer Sounds. Gretel suits institutions and media brands that want a distinctive visual system.

13. Mythology

Independent · NoHo · mythology.com

Mythology began in 2008 as Partners & Spade and took its current name in 2018 under founder Anthony Sperduti. It works across branding, advertising and retail design from a studio on Lafayette Street.

In March 2026 it relaunched Hint's packaging and identity, followed in May by the "MMMMM Water" campaign. It also designed FIGS's "Community Hubs" retail concept, and its earlier clients include Warby Parker, Harry's and Sonos. It is a good fit for consumer brands that need identity, retail and campaign work from one team.

14. Porto Rocha

Independent · Brooklyn · portorocha.com

Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha, both Brazilian-born, founded Porto Rocha in New York, and the studio now has more than 60 people and, since 2026, a London office. Both founders were elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 2023, and in 2024 they launched the "No Free Pitches" resolution against unpaid pitching.

Clients include Robinhood, Twitch, Nike Run (a D&AD Yellow Pencil winner), PAC NYC and Netflix. The studio covers strategy, verbal and visual identity, motion and 3D.

15. Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Independent · Flatiron · cghnyc.com

Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is the firm behind many of the best-known American trademarks, including those of NBC, Chase, National Geographic and the Smithsonian. It focuses on logos and identity systems, and its partners present marks directly to clients.

Recent work includes the America250 identity for the country's 250th anniversary in July 2026 and the ATP Tour's evolved logo, unveiled in November 2025 and rolled out through the 2026 season. It is the specialist to call when a single mark has to last for decades.

What to look for in a New York branding agency

Start with the scale of change. A full rebrand after a merger, with new naming and brand architecture, calls for a consultancy such as Lippincott, Siegel+Gale or Interbrand. A new identity for a start-up or a cultural institution is often better served by a studio like Gretel or Porto Rocha, where the founders stay close to the work.

Ask how the agency handles research and testing before launch. The Cracker Barrel and Philadelphia Museum of Art reversals in 2025 and 2026 showed how quickly a public can reject a change it was not prepared for. Good agencies plan the rollout, the explanation and the internal case as carefully as the logo.

Check ownership and who will lead your project. Several holding-company brand agencies have new reporting lines in 2026, and senior staff move often. Ask for named leads, and ask whether specialist partners (type foundries, sonic branding, motion studios) are in-house or subcontracted.

Finally, think about what you will receive at the end. A rebrand produces guidelines, logo files, typefaces, templates and photography, often in hundreds of variations. Agree early where these will live, how feedback rounds will be run, and how your own teams will find the right asset once the agency has gone.

How Fabric helps branding agency teams

Fabric gives a branding team one workspace for its files, client feedback and research, with AI search across all of it. The brand identity setup is built around how identity projects run: one space per client, holding discovery interviews, strategy decks, design rounds and final assets together.

Early stages produce a lot of reference material. Canvas works as an infinite moodboard that can embed Figma files and video, and search finds images by meaning or by colour, which helps when a palette is being set. Similar search surfaces related visuals from past projects by composition, colour and subject. Stakeholder interviews recorded as audio or video are transcribed and become searchable, with timestamps that jump to the quote.

For presentations and handover, any folder can be published as a web page, which suits brand guidelines that need to stay current, and protected with a password. Link analytics shows which stakeholders opened a presentation and for how long. Clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without an account, and annotations let reviewers highlight and comment on PDF guidelines. Drawing directly on images is coming soon. There is more on keeping guidelines live in Fabric for brand guidelines.

On Team plans, self-writing docs maintain a page for each client from meetings, Slack and the workspace, recording decisions, deliverables and open items through a long rebrand.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans, and self-writing docs on Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best branding agency in New York?

It depends on the job. For large corporate rebrands, Lippincott, Landor and Interbrand have the deepest experience. Among independents, Koto's New York studio led Amazon's 2025 rebrand and Red Antler's McKinsey work won Gold at The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas in 2026.

What is the difference between a branding agency and a design agency?

A branding agency usually starts with strategy, positioning and naming, then builds the identity from that. A design studio may take a brief that is already set and focus on the visual system, digital products or print. Many firms do both. For studios that lead with design, see our list of the best design agencies in New York.

What happened to FutureBrand?

In November 2025, ahead of Omnicom's acquisition of IPG, FutureBrand's global chief executive and leadership team left and the agency was taken out of McCann Worldgroup's structure, with staff moved into local McCann offices.

Who owns Landor and Design Bridge and Partners?

Both are owned by WPP. Since May 2026 they sit in WPP Brand & Design, led by Landor's chief executive Jane Geraghty, and WPP has said both will continue to trade under their own names.

How long does a rebrand take?

A focused identity project for a smaller company can take three to six months. Large programmes take longer: Koto's Amazon rebrand ran for 18 months and covered more than 50 sub-brands across 15 markets.

Related lists

Branding agencies in other cities: Los Angeles · London · Chicago · San Francisco · Toronto

More in New York: Creative agencies · Design agencies · UX design agencies · Advertising agencies · Marketing agencies · Photography studios

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