One of London’s more eagerly-awaited creative start-ups is officially launching, Ace of Hearts founded by former adam&eveDDB CCO Richard Brim (below, right) and CSO Martin Beverley and former McCann London CEO Polly McMorrow. The agency is being backed by Germany’s Serviceplan.
Brim says: “We’ve come from brilliant places and we’ve had the fortune to work with some brilliant people, but now we want to see how creativity can play a bigger role for our partners. We’re building a company at a time when the world is changing, which means that we can change with it, which couldn’t be more exciting. No retrofitting, no restrictions, just the ability to evolve with the change of our industry.”
McMorrow says: “We love this industry, we love what we do, and we love watching the impact that creativity has, but we’re at an inflection point. That means we need to radically evolve how we value creativity itself. Shedding some of those legacies, models and structures, and being able to play across the full spectrum of our partners’ business is critical.
“In my experience, the very best partners I’ve ever worked with will actively encourage you to do that. That’s the level of ambition I’m most excited about, and it’s exactly why we’re building Ace of Hearts.”
Ace of Hearts says it’s going to take a creative approach to the shape of work it creates, how it is paid by clients and how it employs and rewards its staff. Most start-ups say the same of course, before being ground down by client procurement.
But the talented trio have a good chance of making a big impact. The first clients will be crucial: one or more biggies is usually required to get such agencies off to a flying start.
