Former Channel 4 boss David Abraham (also a founder of the St Luke’s agency) formed Wonderhood Studios in April to offer cross-discipline creativity and content and we’ve been waiting to see who he signed up for his creative agency team.
A pretty starry line-up they are too; arguably the most notable in the UK since adam&eve sprang into being all those years ago.
And there’s a distinct adam&eve flavour. Former award-winning adam&eve creative Aidan McLure, latterly the joint ECD at BBC Creative, is to be ECD. CSO Jessica Lovell moves in from the same role at A&E. Lovell also spent 11 years at Mother and also worked with Abraham at St Luke’s while the third member of the triumvirate COO Alex Best (below left with Lovell and McLure), the senior suit, has worked at HHCL, Fallon, Wieden+Kennedy (including Portland) and Vice.
Abraham says: “Over the past few months I met many talented people to explore how the vision for Wonderhood Studios is realised. Aidan, Jessica and Alex have been integral to much of the recent breakthrough brand thinking which I admire and are also three of the most likeable and collaborative operators in the business. These appointments now give us the capacity to begin taking on the biggest strategic challenges which brands want to throw at us and we are hungry to get out there and start building fresh and progressive partnerships with clients.”
ECD McClure says: “I’ve loved being in broadcast but have also missed advertising. Wonderhood Studios is a unique opportunity to collide the best bits of these two worlds and to come at problems in a genuinely fresh way.”
CSO Lovell says: “Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to work for agencies setting the creative agenda for the industry. The blend of talent being brought together in Wonderhood Studios provides an incredibly exciting opportunity to innovate again, creating a new way of approaching the challenges facing brands today.”
COO Best says: “I’m thrilled to be joining Wonderhood Studios and the opportunity to offer clients a genuinely different approach to their brands’ challenges in an environment in which attention spans are shifting fundamentally.
“I’ve worked with some of the world’s best advertising creatives and I can’t wait to now create big ideas for brands and platforms with respected talent from the world of TV.”
Wonderhood already has a factual programming team led by former BBC studios executive Samantha Anstiss.
London’s start-up scene has been pretty moribund in recent years: Lucky Generals made a medium-sized splash but sold a majority rapidly to Omnicom’s TBWA.
Top creative, planner and suit is the classic combination, as Abraham well knows, epitomised by Bartle (planner) Bogle (suit) and Hegarty 30 or so years ago.
BBH (a breakaway as was adam&eve) began with no business but it would be surprising in Abraham doesn’t have a hot prospect or two up his sleeve.
