2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge.
Lead Image: 2045 Team
Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. In 2020 B.B.E was acquired by HERO, with Evans departing in May 2023. Since then Evans has been consulting at Nick Auditore’s NAR Group, one of the region’s premier sports apparel companies.
“The last few months have been transformational to say the least. We pretty quickly identified the opportunity to evolve our talented seven person in-house creative team and turn it into an independent Creative Agency. We’re already up and running and I couldn’t be happier with the results so far,” Auditore said.
NAR Group brands include Mitchell and Ness, TNE, Majestic, Outerstuff, Nike NBA Kids, and Crep Protect. “We’re excited to extend the NAR Group offering with 2045. The agency is uniquely placed to service not only our internal brands, but any ambitious marketer who is interested in taking advantage of AI-powered creative services,” NAR Group CCO Brant Hirst said.
In addition to consulting with NAR Group, Evans returned to his former university to study AI, and teamed up with renowned image maker and AI specialist Tom Blachford. “Working with the 2045 team to set up their processes and philosophies from day one was a really cool project. It has blossomed into a collaboration that will see the release of an artwork soon,” Blachford said.
“The volume, variety, and velocity of assets required by modern marketing isn’t slowing down. Our commitment to “Big Ideas. Semi Automatic Execution” means our downstream production is highly automated, so more money and time is spent on world-class strategy and creativity. It’s a unique opportunity to start an agency on such strong foundations, and I’m really grateful to Nick and his team. Working with my old mate Blachford to weave AI into 2045’s DNA and work on iconic global brands from the start has been such an honour – but I’m even more excited about what we have planned next,” said Evans.
