Justin Tindall, former chief creative officer at M&C Saatchi, and Kate Bosomworth, who worked as chief marketing officer at the same shop, are launching an agency that aims to rip up the traditional ad agency model.
The company, called Platform, is the latest in a string of start-ups popping up over the past weeks, including Other, Motel, ScienceMagic, Friendly Giants and The Ninety-Niners.
Platform is described as having an "efficient and agile" business model. There are three stages to the work it will do with a client: first it will build a brand platform, second a portfolio of creative work and third production.
Clients do not need to sign up to all three stages and can buy the brand platform outright for a fee or license it from Platform. They could then ask their existing ad agency to create the work or make it in-house.
Platform promises a set fee, which is means-tested, and clients can pay as they go along each stage of the process.
Tindall and Bosomworth have also set up a platform with freelance creatives that they will call upon depending on the requirements they have for a client. The creatives have been asked to join this talent platform or have to apply.
It is designed to be all-inclusive, Bosomworth told Campaign, explaining that it gives Platform a chance to work with people based all around the world.
Tindall explained that he has split the talent pool up into "thinkers" and "makers" – or strategics and creatives. He believes that bringing strategy and creative people together at the start of the process makes it far quicker.
He added: "There has been an acceleration of phenomenal talent that has increasingly become available because agencies are not making the money they used to so they can't pay salaries that really good people command and they have had to let go a lot of them."
Bosomworth explained that the pair looked at every part of the traditional agency model and "broke it down to create a new way of working at every turn".
She added: "Never before has there been a greater need to work differently, not just the changing working patterns, harsh economic climate and shifting consumer behaviours that 2020 has created, but clients have been seeking better value, more flexibility and collaboration for a while."
Platform's founding client is Suffolk-based Fishers Gin, for which Tindall and Bosomworth will be presenting a brand platform this week.
Andrew Heald, founder of Fishers Gin, said: "Hiring Platform to help us take the brand forward is one of the best decisions I've made. We are at a crucial stage of growth and we can already see the transformative impact they are having."
Bosomworth and Tindall said they have a pipeline of interest from potential clients and do not expect to have to pitch for new business over the next 12 months.
Tindall took voluntary redundancy from M&C Saatchi at the end of last year after the loss of the NatWest account, which was believed to be worth more than 10% of the agency's revenues. Before this, he worked at Leo Burnett and was a founding partner of The Red Brick Road.
Bosomworth left M&C Saatchi in January this year. She was a key figure behind the government's "This girl can" campaign.
