Tag: Howatson+Company

Melbourne, Australia – In a bid to show to Aussies how they have perfected their Original Ale product, Australian brewery Matilda Bay has launched its limited edition of ales called the ‘Rejected Ales’, a 27-piece ale set that represents all of the ale’s rejected batches before it reached its final production.

The campaign, conceptualised alongside agency Howatson+Company, is represented by a short film that demonstrates Matilda Bay’s obsession with quality and relentlessly pursuing perfection in everything they do. For the brewery, rather than keeping these almost perfect beers a secret, the brewery has canned them and made them available to the public to prove just how good their Original Ale is.

Speaking about this campaign, Phil Sexton, founder and master brewer at Matilda Bay, said, “We’ve crafted beer to perfection our own way since 1983. If a batch doesn’t meet our impeccably high standards, we reject it. It might be a bit commercially reckless, but it’s just the way we do things around here. So, to demonstrate our dedication to crafting the perfect beer, we’re letting Aussies try our not quite perfect enough Rejected Ales. Which, after our Original Ale, are hopefully the second best beers you’ll taste.”

Meanwhile, Gavin Chimes, executive creative director at Howatson+Company, commented, “They say nothing tastes as sweet as success, but at Matilda Bay, failure is delicious too. Now we’ve put that failure in cans for people to try. We worked closely with the Matilda Bay brewers to capture the details of their arduous journey. We opened old wounds and old logbooks. And crafted every aspect of our campaign. It was only fitting, considering how much craft they put into their beer.”

With names like ‘Yeah…nah’, ‘Keep dreaming’ and ‘Ballpark’, each of the 27 Rejected Ale cans tells a story of its rejection. These have been brought to life in OOH, radio, press, social, retailer integration, and in store activations.

Australia – Advertising agency Howatson+Company has appointed Dom Hickey, former head of planning at advertising firm DDB Group Australia, to be its new chief strategy officer.

During her stint at DDB Group Australia, Hickey has worked with various brands such as Westpac, J&J, Coles, and Unilever as well as Domain. She has led the strategy on Westpac’s life moments, the Matriarchs campaign for Carefree, and the Australian launch of Tylenol. 

Moreover, Hickey has worked across every dimension of marketing from brand transformation to brand experience. She also teaches strategy at Ad School and Miami Ad School, as well as co-hosts a podcast, The Junior Mafia, to give the perspective of young people in the industry a voice. 

Commenting on her appointment, Hickey said, “I’ve been watching Howatson+Company from afar, and I’m delighted to get the chance to join them. It’s an incredible team of lovely people, smart, sharp and on the tools. I’m excited about the work we can bring into the world by collaborating across all disciplines in one place.” 

Meanwhile, Chris Howatson, Howatson+Company’s founder and CEO, shared that Hickey is the perfect strategy leader as she is a modern planner and empathic to all marketing disciplines, and understands how these marketing practices come together across the brand and customer experience.

“Her first career was in the police force as a crime scene photographer. What a way to start a career in understanding human behaviour,” said Howatson.

Most recently, Howatson+Company has also appointed Richard Shaw and Jeremy Hogg, former creative directors at CHE Proximity, to be its new executive creative directors, aimed at bolstering the agency’s creatives.

Sydney, Australia – Advertising agency Howatson+Company officially welcomes Richard Shaw and Jeremy Hogg as new executive creative directors of the agency. They will be joining current executive creative director Gavin Chimes in the agency lineup.

Prior to joining, Shaw and Hogg were creative directors at CHE Proximity, leading the creative output across multiple accounts including Samsung, Australia’s largest account consolidated within one agency. Their creative oversight spanned every aspect of their business including CX, media, data, tech, social, retail, brand and beyond.

Speaking about their appointments, the duo said, “We’ve had the good fortune to work with a whole bunch of people at Howatson+Company before. We couldn’t be more excited to be reunited with such remarkably clever and lovely humans. Add to that getting to work with all new faces like Levi and it feels like the sky is the limit.”

Meanwhile, Levi Slavin, chief creative officer at Howatson+Company, commented, “At Howatson+Company we have a commitment to very senior talent, on the tools. It means our clients benefit from creatives with deep experience, and the confidence to apply creativity to its most powerful effect. We’re delighted that Rich and Jez have joined with Gav, to maintain our philosophy and standard to our growing client list.”

He added, “There are no better creative partners than Rich and Jez. They care fiercely, which makes them perfect for Howatson+Co.”

The new appointments follow a number of recent senior appointments including Managing Director Renee Hyde, Chief Data and Technology Officer Hoang Nguyen, Head of Production Holly Alexander, and Managing Partner Rebecca Robertson.

Australia – Advertising agency Howatson+Company has appointed Hoang Nguyen, former director of digital and engineering at digital firm Appscore, to be its new chief data and technology officer.

Aside from his stint at Appscore, Nguyen has also held the role of executive director of engineering at full-service advertising company CHE Proximity, and the technical director at strategic design consultancy Deepend. He has also led teams and designed architectures for several blue-chip enterprises such as NAB and ANZ, Samsung, and Telstra, among others. 

Commenting on his new role, Nguyen said, “I’m excited to bring data and technology together, especially as privacy management becomes critical in meeting compliance requirements and managing brand reputation.”

Chris Howatson, Howatson+Company’s CEO, believes that great experience requires both data and technology as intertwined enablers, live and constantly talking to and responding to each other. 

“Hoang joins us with a remit to expand our technology offering and has already made an incredible impact to our clients, especially in the areas of data privacy, security, and marketing technology,” said Howatson.

Sydney, Australia – Fintech lender Plenti has partnered with advertising agency Howatson+Company to launch a new campaign that aims to inspire Australians to stop putting their big ideas on hold and instead make them real.

Plenti assists Australians with loans through smart technology. Its proprietary technology platform provides automotive, renewable energy, and personal loans to help bring their big ideas to life.

Titled ‘Destroy Your Dreams’, the campaign nods to the fact that most Australians are using ‘inspiration boards’ on social media sites including Pinterest and Instagram, to plan their dreams, and it remained just that, living inside boards and not brought to life.

In addition to the ad film, Plenti has released a suite of product films, social assets, and is facilitating a ‘Destroy Your Dreams’ consumer promo.

Daniel Foggo, Plenti’s CEO, commented, “We’re excited to be launching a major brand campaign and customer competition that highlights how Plenti can help people achieve their dreams. It highlights just how exciting it is to bring people’s big ideas to life as we continue to build Australia’s best lender.” 

Meanwhile, Samantha Saunders, the head of marketing at Plenti, believes that the brand is young and still relatively new to the consumer marketplace. 

“We needed a cut-through brand campaign that would resonate with our affluent customer base. As a modern lender, with modern customers, we were prepared to take risks with the creative, so long as the work reflected who we are and where we’re going,” said Saunders.

Gavin Chimes, Howatson+Company’s executive creative director, shared, “This campaign is about shaking people out of their complacency and inspiring them to take action. And by creating it, we got to fulfill one of our very own dreams, blowing stuff up in an ad.”

Australia – Belong, the carbon-neutral mobile and internet provider in Australia, has launched a new two-minute radio ad titled, ‘A Love Song to the Internet’, aimed at celebrating the joyful and unexpected wormholes the internet leads its users down.

The spot, which was created in collaboration with advertising agencies Howatson+Company and Eardrum, as well as musician Andy Hopkins, takes the form of a modern love song to the internet, journeying from facts about octopus flatulence to apps that help users speak Spanish. 

Kelly Schulz, Belong’s head of brand, communications, and culture, shared that the internet gets a bad rap sometimes, but it can be a wonderfully joyful, and exciting place, and from streaming hours of random content to joining forums about things that taste like blue, it’s where everyone belongs.

“As a telco that’s all about inclusivity and belonging, we felt compelled to sing about it with some wonderful  Australian musical talent,” said Schulz. 

Meanwhile, Jared Wicker and Elaine Li, Howatson+Company’s creative duo, said, “The internet has always been there for us all and this was our chance to work with Belong to return the favor for consumers with a light-hearted modern love song.”  

The campaign will be running across the national Nova, KISS, and Triple M networks in specially designed two-minute ad placements. 

In September this year, Belong, alongside Howatson+Company, also launched ‘The Book of Limbo’, an offline-online wormhole designed to keep Australians entertained while they set up their new phone.

Australia – The carbon-neutral mobile and internet provider in Australia, Belong, has partnered with advertising agency Howatson+Company, to launch ‘The Book of Limbo’, an offline-online wormhole designed to keep Australians entertained while they set up their new phone.

‘The Book of Limbo’ aims to help people navigate ‘phone limbo’ – the period of disconnection that occurs when you transfer all your data from an old device to your new one. It is designed to be the world’s first offline online wormhole, channeling the joyful chaos of the internet into over 100 pages of left-field content.

In addition, the new book has been created in partnership with some of Australia’s best multimedia artists, including Andrew van der Westhuyzen and Indigenous artist Saltwater Dreamtime. Its original artworks were also created using CGI, Illustration, and the internet itself, via generative adversarial network (GAN) technologies.

Meanwhile, the back page of every copy includes a free Belong mobile SIM card with an AU$80 credit to use in Australia, enabling readers to re-enter the real internet after their new phone is set up.

Jana Kotatko, Belong’s CEO, said that transferring everything over to a new device can be a time-consuming experience, and with more than eight million new handsets purchased last year, it’s become a universal feeling. 

“The Book of Limbo is our way of making phone limbo a joyful moment, while also sharing our love for all of the weird and wonderful content the internet has to offer,” added Kotatko.

Gavin Chimes, Howatson+Company’s executive creative director, shared that there is nothing like losing yourself in a good book, and there’s nothing like getting lost in the depths of an internet wormhole. 

“We’ve found a way to combine the two and bring joy to that period of nothingness when you’re stuck between two phones,” said Chimes.

The limited-edition Book of Limbo is available to pre-order online, with a digital edition and an audio edition being made available for those that cannot secure a physical copy.

The latest work comes after the appointment of Howatson+Company as Belong’s creative and media strategy agency of record. Earlier this month, Howatson+Company also launched Belong’s new fully integrated brand platform, ‘It feels good to Belong’, extending across brand communications, product, sim card packaging, and website, as well as UI/UX, and staff collateral, among others.

Australia – Advertising agency Howatson+Company has just announced the appointment of Levi Slavin, former chief creative officer of creative firm Colenso BBDO, to be its new chief creative officer.

Slavin’s creative reputation has been built over a 21-year career, working in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His work has been featured at TED, ranked #1 on both the iTunes music and podcast charts, and become part of popular culture through song, product innovation, and branded series, as well as film.

The appointment of Slavin will commence officially in January 2022.

Commenting on his new role, Slavin said that he is beyond thrilled to finally have the opportunity to work with Howatson. 

“It’s the only model I’ve come across that will keep up with culture, the needs of brands, and return some humanity to our industry. I can’t wait to return home to Australia and get started,” noted Slavin.

Meanwhile, Chris Howatson, the CEO and founder of Howatson+Company, commented that Slavin is renowned for his empathy, his commitment to developing his teams, and his building deep relationships with his clients. 

“I’ve known Levi for many years – both of us having long tenures at Clemenger Group – and the opportunity to partner with him in building H+Co is a career highlight,” said Howatson.

Just recently, Howatson has announced the rebranding of the company, from Howatson+White to Howatson+Company, following his partner Ant White’s sudden exit.