Thinkerbell has acquired another independent creative agency, Hardhat, AdNews can reveal.
Commercial details haven't been revealed.
Hardhat CEO and founder Dan Monheit will be a partner in Thinkerbell and takes on the role of chief CX thinker.
The acquisition will build on Thinkerbell's CX capabilities.
Thinkerbell CEO Margie Reid said Monheit and Hardhat are best in class at what they do.
"We are always looking for ways to help our clients build their brands with our particular brand of Measured Magic," Reid said.
"In order to keep doing this it’s imperative we continue to invest in, and build our capabilities across all touchpoints between the brands we work with and their consumers.
"Along with Dan, the Hardhat crew will bring something special to Thinkerbell, as they are specialists in thinking customer first across the entire customer journey as well as their behaviour change creative capabilities.
"This will mean that we can unleash the power of Measured Magic for our clients across their entire customer experience.
We look forward to continuing to work with some of the most iconic and loved brands in Australia and New Zealand."
Hardhat was founded in 2005 by Monheit and Justin Kabbani when they were in their mid 20s
The news comes as both Melbourne agencies have had recent ownership changes.
Hardhat co-founder Justin Kabbani left the business in 2022, seeing the other co-founder Monheit take sole ownership.
Thinkerbell this year parted ways with PwC's minority stake in the company.
Monheit said when the opportunity came knocking to do something bigger with Thinkerbell, it was just too compelling to ignore.
"The scale of Thinkerbell allows us to take our CX offering and apply it to bigger brand opportunities," Monheit said.
"Further, Thinkerbell’s measured magic philosophy, or marketing sciences meets hard core creativity resonates to our core. Our skill set will further build on the Thinkerbell offering and we look forward to seeing what our combined forces can do.
"This is especially true for all of the clients who have backed us until now, who will immediately benefit from Thinkerbell’s world class strategic and creative firepower. Over time we will retire the Hardhat brand as we enter our next chapter as Thinkerbell.”
Thinkerbell chief thinker Adam Ferrier said the successful agencies and consultancies today have a much broader remit than just advertising.
"From our inception we’ve embraced a broader marketing pallet embracing brand strategy, PR, research and media," Ferrier said.
"Bringing Dan and his team on board means we can deliver measured magic through the entire customer experience, and ensure we offer a holistic brand led business transformation offer to our clients.
"I’ve known Dan for years, we catch up regularly, and we share a similar point of view on the world. Dan has built an incredible business in Hardhat and we are extremely proud to bring the business into the Thinkerbell family.”
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