WPP AUNZ, the new name for WPP in Australia following the $512m acquisition of STW in 2016, is launching Hogarth Australia, the latest venture by global production giant Hogarth.
Under the Hogarth Australia brand WPP AUNZ has realigned production agencies Agile, One20, Paragon and Carnival into one huge production group under the brand Hogarth Australia. Hogarth, which is 64 per cent owned by WPP, now has a global network of more than 2,500 employees and 25 offices worldwide.
WPP AUNZ CEO Mike Connaghan says: “Combining the global muscle of an iconic brand such as Hogarth with the local expertise and strength of four successful production houses represents an amazing opportunity for us to lead the way in content production in Australia and further solidify our leadership position in the region.
“It’s also a unique offering to the Australian marketplace in that it will provide services to our own clients, new prospects and to creative agencies outside of the WPP AUNZ group looking for scale and breadth of capability, teamed with local expertise.”
Hogarth Worldwide managing director David Hughes says: “Many of our global clients have asked us to set up in Australia for a while and in 2017 we are doing it. It’s a great market for creative production and we see lots of innovation there in content and dynamic digital work. It’s a great addition to our growing production network and we look forward to being the production backbone for WPP AUNZ agencies and clients.”
Hogarth Australia will be led by newly appointed CEO Justin Ricketts (left) alongside Hogarth new COO David Fleer, formally MD of One20.
Ricketts says: “In today’s evolving media landscape, clients demand increasing amounts of content and the time is right to disrupt old habits and evolve the production model. I believe at Hogarth Australia we have a way to make campaign assets work better and faster and can provide our clients with a genuine end-to-end production offering…our model offers the flexibility to work with some of the best upcoming directors and production companies from both Australia and beyond.”
Hogarth Australia includes a team of over 100 in-house specialists, with the ability to tap into global resources. It will offer full service production across TV, radio, print, out of home, mobile and digital.
Hogarth’s global client roster already includes Procter & Gamble, King Digital, Nestle, GSK, Kellogg’s, HSBC and Vodafone. Hogarth Australia is located at WPP AUNZ’s Kent Street campus and will open new facilities in Port Melbourne, Victoria and Crows Nest in Sydney.
