Candyspace launches US push and deepens ties to Joule
Candyspace is taking its cross-platform technical skills to the US in an expansion that will see global chief executive Tom Thorne take up a similar role at sister agency Joule in order to leverage its mobile strategic expertise.
The design and build shop is opening two offices in New York and Los Angeles, headed by former president of Joule Greg Crockart as chief executive of North America.
He is leading the agency’s launch and client expansion efforts, and has already overseen its early work for Dell and Paramount’s latest film “Hot Tub Time Machine 2”. A key priority for the agency will be trying to persuade advertisers to invest TV budgets into social, which is now inherently mobile, as it looks to build a more robust view of audiences.
The agency pitches itself as creative technologists specialising in cross-screen execution that can call on the audience insights and planning services of Joule. It is a natural extension of how the two digital shops have worked in the UK in recent years and it is hoped the integrated offering will exploit the realisation among many marketers that mobile marketing is about understanding customer behaviour not just devices.
To ease the transition. Thorne is heading up the Joule business in the UK and US, replacing Daniel Rosen after he left for Telefonica last November. He is working alongside the agency’s country chief executives in France and China as well as Martin Brierley, global creative officer of Candyspace and Joule.
Candyspace anticipates the shifting mobile media landscape will make technical expertise top of mind for advertisers looking to build more targeted audiences at scale. Whether its developing HTML5 products that can be repurposed for multiple devices, or using mobile to power out of home and radio channels, advertisers are thinking much more about the customer experience, said Thorne.
A direct benefit of this is that advertisers would much rather develop a mobile product and strategy from one point rather than farming out the production elsewhere. “A lot of clients who have started to think about offshoring are actually flipping that decision now,” added Thorne. “It’s because they realise that the magic that happens is about humans interacting and getting exited about making something great.”
The agencies form part of WPP’s connected consumer specialists Tenthavenue and is working closely with Kinetic on upcoming digital outdoor executions.
Rupert Day, global chief executive of Tenthavenue said: “Since the relationship began, Candyspace and Joule have worked together successfully to devise smart strategies to create, execute and deploy multi-screen experiences. We want to build on this relationship, and have a unified cross-territory approach to provide our clients with outstanding service, and even better results. There is no one better than Tom to lead this, and I’m delighted to have him on board.”
Candyspace’s US launch continues an expansion drive that saw it set up in France last year.