Born to run: Working both with agency partners such as Droga5, Wunderman and Ogilvy as well as, increasingly, as digital AOR (including recent wins Aflac and SoBe), Firstborn has raised the bar for advanced design and development that feels somehow simple and intuitive to users. After all, all the fancy 3-D animation in the world doesn't amount to much if it feels forced or unnatural.

The Outsiders: It seemed more than a little back-to-the-future, when, on a recent December morning, yours truly found herself once again at the quasi-compound that is R/GA New York. I was there, of course, to delve into what made it OMMA's Agency of the Year, but all I could think of was the past.

The baddest agencies in the land roll up fully loaded -- with R/GA and Razorfish up front.