DDB Group Australia introduces new-look Tribal Worldwide Australia; an innovative digital offering

Australia: DDB Group Australia has officially re-launched Tribal Worldwide Australia; an inspired new offering that aligns with Tribal’s global digital focus, harnessing technology and creativity to effectively engage today’s astute consumers.

Like all DDB Group brands, Tribal Worldwide Sydney and Melbourne will also feed into a national structure, Tribal Worldwide Australia, which will spearhead the Group’s technology-led creative offering.

Says Phil Dowgierd (left), managing director Tribal Worldwide Sydney: “We are living in the experience economy – a time of unprecedented choice with greater homogeneity than ever before. In this environment, what a brand does is as important as what a brand says. Consumers are driving this change and business, especially locally, needs to respond quicker to keep up. As a new national offering, we want to bring Australian brands to the forefront of this consumer-driven evolution.”

Dowgierd and MD Tribal Worldwide Melbourne, Richard Lloyd (middle) both relocated to Australia earlier this year to take up their roles with Tribal Worldwide Australia having each led some of the UK’s strongest digital agencies in recent years. Since their arrival, they have identified key opportunities available to Australian brands that will allow them to continually operate in today’s experience economy, utilising technology to add value to consumers.

Says Lloyd: “A brand’s use of technology should aim to be visibly invisible and ultimately be the engine behind the experience being provided, as opposed to the experience itself. It allows for interaction, but more than ever technology needs to earn this inherent interaction. Innovating in brand experiences requires a mindset shift in Australia. To not do so is a risky course of action for Australian brands and businesses.”

Says Dowgierd: “The fact is, Australian are some of the fastest adopters of technology in the world, however we are seeing non-Australian companies, such as ASOS and Uber capitalise on this whilst local companies are not doing so as effectively. We want to redress that.”

DDB Group Australia CEO, Chris Brown and DDB Australia MD, Andrew Little, who takes up the position of CEO in the coming weeks, have been working closely together in the development of the national Tribal Worldwide offering, bringing in Dowgierd and Lloyd to spearhead the new rollout.

Says Little: “For the past 12 months, the Group has been acutely aware of the opportunity for a specialist technology agency. The national offering houses some of the strongest talent in the industry and the creative heartbeat in Tribal Worldwide Australia gives it a unique edge in the tech space.”

Supporting Dowgierd and Lloyd are ECD Darwin Tomlinson (right) in Sydney and head of creative technology Matt Oxley in Melbourne. Tomlinson joined the Tribal camp from DDB Sydney where he was deputy ECD and led a number of award-winning digital campaigns, including TrackMyMacca’s.

He is also a founding member of DDB Group’s innovation lab, °shaper, which has inspired some of thinking behind the new-look Tribal Worldwide in Australia.

Says Tomlinson: “°shaper starts with a problem that needs to be solved and we find a brand to enable it. With Tribal, we are finding a solution with a brand already in mind. Ultimately we are looking at transformation and transaction and doing so through providing a use or utility – creating experiences, and more specifically, an experience around a brand.”

Oxley has just joined the Group from the UK in his role as head of creative technology. With over 15 years’ experience, Oxley has received numerous awards, including Cannes Lions and Webbys, for his ability to combine both creativity and technology to build useful and cutting edge solutions for clients.

Tribal Worldwide Australia will be supported by the extensive expertise of the Tribal Worldwide network which has over 60 offices across 42 countries and, with a legacy for innovation, has led the industry with continuous award-winning work since its set up in 2000.