Cawley Nea\TBWA has rebranded as TBWA\Dublin, marking a bold new chapter in the company’s development. The move is intended to better reflect the “Re-founders” culture at the heart of the agency, which acknowledges the process of creative transformation that has characterised the company’s continuous evolution since its inception in 1992. The Re-founders culture describes the innovative process of determining a new creative vision in the absence of the agency’s original founders. A group of Re-founders drive the agency forward by discovering an improved and updated offering that builds upon their strong heritage whilst looking towards the future. These new initiatives seek to revitalise the agency’s entrepreneurial DNA and communicate its unique global and local identity to new and existing staff and clients.
“As Re-founders, we have a vision whereby we don’t just make better things, we try and make things better”
Deirdre Waldron, CEO of TBWA\Dublin, explained: “We are the Disruption company, so we aim to disrupt ourselves and our clients as much as we can. We’ve entered an exciting new phase where we’re creatively finding a new purpose, driven by the global creative powerhouse that is TBWA\ and our local Re-founders culture. This rebrand gives us a new platform to talk about a lot of our new initiatives. We continue to add talent to the very strong team that is already here in the agency, as well as a new vision, and new ways of working that we feel are much more reactive to the challenges in our industry.” TBWA\Dublin’s Joint MD, Fergal Behan, added: “One of these new initiatives is our in-house production brand TBWA\Make. At the heart of our Re-founders culture is entrepreneurialism and we’ve built an in-house studio that allows us to drive better value for our clients while also providing for more reactive content that allows us to create at the speed of culture.”
In addition to the rebranding, TBWA\Dublin has also appointed John Kane as Executive Creative Director of the agency. Kane started his career in Dublin before moving to Sydney, where he spent five years at Leo Burnett Sydney before starting his own agency, Happy Soldiers, which quickly became internationally recognised. It was named “Hotshop of the Year” twice in its first three years and in year four it was ranked the “Number 1 Independent Agency in Australia.” Kane has won more than thirty major international awards, including over ten Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD and a Grand Prix Effie. More recently he founded Idea Gallery, an innovation and accelerator company that has worked with clients around the world, such as Coca Cola, Subaru, Diageo and Virgin.
“We’re winning new business and awards and developing a strong tech and data backbone that we’re very proud of”
On moving toTBWA\Dublin, Kane said: “I’m passionate about the role creativity can play in transforming business. With it’s Disruption platform, it’s own reinvention and an enviable client base I feel that TBWA\Dublin is in a perfect position to embrace new ways of communicating. It was an easy decision to join this talented creative team.” At the agency’s re-brand party, in her closing comments, Waldron added of Kane's appointment: “The addition of John to our executive team will add impetus to our ambitious growth plans while also adding international-level creative talent, allowing us to compete again at the highest levels. The re-founded TBWA\Dublin is set for successes in 2017 and beyond.”
