Photography ace Rankin spreads wings with new agency led by ex-Publicis Richard Pinder

As if creative agencies didn’t have enough on their plate with pesky clients cutting fees and in-housing, the creative market is becoming even more crowded with production companies like MPC and Ridley Scott’s RSA broadening their pitch to take on the full works.

Now photographer Rankin (below) is boosting his efforts in the full service creative stakes with Rankin – well it would be called that – helmed by Publicis Groupe vet Richard Pinder (latterly at Crispin Porter) and ECD Christine Jones, latterly of Ogilvy. Clients seemingly include Samsonite, Unilever and Rolls-Royce.

Rankin (one of the founders of Dazed & Confused) says: “I’ve always been excited by the new, so when the world started changing I just grabbed it.”

Pinder says the new agency will “take Rankin’s reputation as a cultural provocateur and providing that same creative agitation for brands that need to cut through all the media clutter.”

Jones says the aim is to be “freshly relevant to a complex world that, frankly, needs to be impressed to pay any attention.”

The problem such new-style agencies face is the need, eventually, for some kind of infrastructure which, sadly for many creatives, means ‘suits,’ account handlers, and the baggage they inevitably bring with them. Otherwise they’re doomed to project work on which it’s hard to build a substantial business.

With an agency like Rankin there’s also the problem that clients will want the boss on their case, which isn’t always possible.

Pinder, a seasoned and able operator, will be well aware of such potential pitfalls.