Colenso BBDO evolves its agency model

Changing client and customer needs are the drivers behind Colenso BBDO's revamped agency model, announced today. 

“These challenges clearly demand we re-assess how we remain relevant and we’ve pursued the things we believe will help ensure creativity continues to flourish,"" says MD Scott Coldham. ""We’re conscious of three key areas: how we collaborate to solve problems, how we evolve towards being an agency that represents not just our clients’ brands, but their customers too, and how we disrupt old processes.”

One of the agency’s new initiatives is Colenso&Co, a partnership structure with a group of specialist companies including Facebook, Google, Perceptive, Scion and Soul Machines designed to provide 'agnostic' solutions to clients' problems - solutions which may not involve advertising at all. “Partnering with these companies isn’t necessarily a new thing for our industry - formalising a process that benefits from their collective thinking power is,"" comments creative chairman Nick Worthington. “It enables us to get better, without necessarily getting bigger.”

Colenso has also introduced an innovation offering, Colenso Ventures. Headed up by Gavin Becker from New York consultancy Made by Many, it's designed to help clients develop new products, new services and new business ventures to help them move into the space often monopolised by start-ups, through 'short sprints' that embrace live prototyping of ideas and consumer engagement with them.

Finally, the agency has collated its traditional studio function, creative technology, social, production, experiential and in-house content business, Flare, into Colenso Studios, led by COO Paul Courtney. 

“Everything has changed, and nothing has changed,” says Coldham. “While we’ll never walk away from the brilliantly beautiful power that creativity can have to affect change, how we get to it and deliver it requires an appreciation of the significant changes that are happening in our industry, and our clients’. We’re confident these gestures will help forge another successful chapter for our creative company.”