Simone Bartley, Gary Hardwick and Tim Berriman form ‘new industry model’ Together Co, Sydney

Simone Bartley, former CEO Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore & Sydney and founder We Think, Gary Hardwick former co-founder IKON Communications and founder IKON3 NY and Tim Berriman, Viscious co-founder, former producer Saatchi & Saatchi London have joined forces to create a new company they claim is the basis of a new industry model – Together Co.

Says Together Co CEO Simone Bartley: “The radical forces reshaping our industry are driving media and creative together again. Clients are more aware of what they need and have also begun bypassing creative agencies and dealing direct with content makers. Media buying has also moved to a faster more efficient programmatic model with dynamic creative versioning becoming commonplace.

“So here we are – bringing it all together. With great clients, offices in Sydney and New York and a team of 21 from day one, we can’t be classified as a start up – and it doesn’t feel that way. We have all known and respected one another for a long time and believe the time is ripe for a new company model that can deliver end to end services, from brand invention and reinvention; to high end content and platform creation and accountable delivery, that has storytelling at its heart.

“Looking internationally and talking to clients and people in the industry it’s clear that things are moving so fast many corporates will not be able to evolve fast enough to capture and monetise the opportunities that abound. That means that most corporates at any given time will have technology, talent and strategy gaps that need filling. That is a huge opportunity for the right agency/creative company model.”

Adds Hardwick (above right): “Together Co’s media team stem from senior lead positions in some of the world’s most celebrated creative agencies including W+K, CP+B and Droga5. The fusion of media and creative actually happens through mutual respect. Senior input generates fast turnaround and recommendations don’t come out of self interest.

“Smarter communication planning leads to less money having to be spent in media to deliver business ROI objectives. Our aim is to spend 50-60% in media with the balance on content creation and hyper-targeted creative messaging to a number of constituent target groups.

“We are not shy in saying that our cutting edge platform specialists are unparalleled in the Australian marketplace having amassed nearly three years in the programmatic buying and social media sectors and generating hundreds of individual campaigns to learn from. With a direct plug into the leading ad tech firms in New York, their expertise is truly world class with access to global results. This represents the perfect blend of consumer focused, technology enablement and automation to drive commercially sound ROI and deliver real time marketing.”

Says Berriman (above left): “We have curated a select group of award winning creative partners in Australia and the US who have extensive and unique storytelling experience and a depth of talent, across a range of different mediums and platforms. Each partner is recognised by the industry for their outstanding work.

“We have award winning multi-media content development capabilities using the latest technologies in 4K high end digital camera gear and lenses, off-line editing suites, state of the art on-line facility, allowing us to create anything from a simple content for web, to an online campaign or event, right through to a full TVC and state of the art visual FX and 3D.

“With all that expertise we can put our focus on delivering powerful brand stories to create positive impact, both commercially and socially.”

Together co believe the three key ingredients for the new creative company model are:

1. Business and brand consulting to solve business challenges not just communication challenges. This capability puts us in the business of leading the creative thinking that increases a brands value and generating real business growth.

2. True communications planning, programmatic buying and optimisation and creative under the one roof to ensure creative input into the full connection planning process.

3. Multi media digital content creation capabilities and a creative operating system that ensures we are a company of ‘makers’ rather than managers of the production process.

We believe in the next 5 years:

1. Marketers will become more scientist than artist as data management and metrics improve

2. Strategy is the new frontier all agencies will fight over

3. Owned media will grow and spend will shift to content in relevant

industries with marketers relying less on paid media

4. But it’s not just about content but rather the way it is delivered and experienced.

The lead team:

Simone Bartley CEO & Co-founder

Formerly WW Board Director and CEO Saatchi & Saatchi Australia & Singapore

Gary Hardwick Media Lead + Co-founder

Formerly Co-founder IKON Communications

Tim Berriman Content Lead + Co-founder

Formerly Head of Production Viscious, Producer Saatchi & Saatchi London

Greg March Lead Media + Digital Strategist –

Formerly Head of Digital Media W&K NY

Todd Alchin Lead Creative Strategist

Formerly Head of Channel Planning CP+B Bolder

Lindsay Lustberg Lead Client Services Media

Formerly W&K and Fallon

Geoffrey King Programmatic + Optimisation Lead

Formerly US + Aust based

Clients include Paypal, Target, Honest Tea, A&E, Breville, Reckon One, USA Today and Finnair.