Ireland seems more and more like a foreign country these days, sitting comfortably in the European Union, so opening an office there has become an appealing strategic move. BBH has gone ahead in Dublin with Tesco as its founding client — but clearly has high hopes for its chances of winning more business there.
Dublin is home to plenty of tech companies and scale ups, as well as being the EMEA headquarters for some well-known household brands, and Karen Martin, BBH CEO, was born there.
She said: “Every big brand CMO in this region has Ireland in their title or as part of their remit. Our goal is to bring the power of difference to more of our clients in Ireland, and work with new partners that share our black sheep mentality.”
Cathal Deavy, customer director at Tesco, said: “We are delighted to welcome BBH to Dublin. Their presence in the market brings them even closer to Irish customers and to society as a whole, which will help them to develop the best possible strategic advice and creative advertising for Tesco Ireland.”
BBH Dublin will be lead creatively by Sam Caren, who moves over from the London office, and Aubrey O’Connell, who has also worked at BBH London but has also spent time in Ireland, at agencies including Accenture’s Rothco.
Amy Crowe will be the business lead. She began her career at BBH London and from there moved to AMV, Sunshine and then to Mother, where she spent the last six years.
O’Connell said: Wherever it’s set up shop, BBH has mastered the power of difference. So it’s incredibly exciting to get to bring that philosophy to my home country. With a creative renaissance happening here right now, it feels like the appetite is there to make standout work and become known in our own right as a creative benchmark.”
