IPG's Huge, the 20 plus year design and innovation outfit born in Brooklyn, has officially opened for business in Australia.
Global CEO Mat Baxter, a New York-based Australian, has taken Huge on a year-long journey and gone to market with a bold new offering.
Creative Growth Acceleration is built on the premise that the world is on the cusp of a new business and economic era where the traditional approaches to growth are no longer fit for purpose.
The offering is a new business philosophy and practice that enables organisations to grow sustainably, purposefully, and predictably.
“Why are we a Creative Growth Acceleration Company? Because creativity unlocks and powers growth,” said Mat Baxter.
“There is a wide body of research which shows that creative companies are more successful, and customers think better of products and services when they come from creative companies.
"But creativity, which is all too often viewed as some kind of secret sauce — immeasurable except in relation to an output such as marketing — requires a different lens if we want to apply it to the problems facing businesses today.”
Huge has designed a suite of products using data, strategy, technology, and creativity to address the most common barriers to growth. Each product includes the predefined methodologies, required tools, frameworks, and typical outputs to overcome each barrier, allowing Huge to define its engagements in terms of concrete business results and ROI, not simply creative artefacts, like most of the industry.
Huge has grouped its products into three key areas, or “gateways” organised around current and future client challenges that have been identified: Experience Transformation, Technology Realisation, and Growth Creation. The company's team of global experts work closely with their clients to identify a clear and ambitious articulation of the business problem(s) to be solved. Once the problems have been identified, the Huge team shapes the most relevant product solutions.
“In creating a standardised and consistent process for tackling our clients' thorniest problems, we have fundamentally changed the way that they engage with us as their creative partner,” said Baxter.
“We no longer sell traditional scopes that focus on the number of team members or a specific period of time. Instead, we provide our clients with a recommended ‘product solution’ that is always tied to real-world business outcomes.”
Huge has also embraced hybrid and remote working. Huge’s local offering will be backed by the entirety of Huge's global network. Brands in Australia will have access to the full breadth of Huge's expertise and capabilities across multiple disciplines, allowing them to achieve success more effectively
Australia will be led by Ben Skelsey, managing director, returning to Melbourne after spending 13 years working internationally, most recently running Huge’s Singapore office, leading it to be Brand Experience & Consulting Agency of the Year in 2021.
"Ben and I are excited to bring our new approach to the Australian market," said Baxter. "Our remote structure allows us to tap into the best global talent and bring the right team to each client, and our productised approach gives a no-nonsense way for Australian brands to get what they need and make huge moves.”
Ben Skelsey: “We’re a commercial creative business and we’re here to drive your commercial outcomes and growth. We understand that Australian brands have plenty of options for comms and campaign work.
"But for brands that are really looking for sustainable and purposeful growth, and want to change their business for the future, that's where we come in.
"We’ve already begun work on a game changing innovation project with a large Australian brand; it’s refreshing to see how creative this company already is, and we’re going to take that even further.”
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