Melbourne-based creative agency Accelerator has today announced that after eight years, it will be adopting a fresh new trading name and associated brand, spurred on by the completion of a series of strategic, personnel and structural shake-ups.

From today, the agency formerly known as Accelerator will be known as DPR&Co – a name that reflects a reconstructed executive team for the company.

Agency principal Phil Huzzard, loyal staffer since the inception of Accelerator, said the re-brand had been some months in the making, and came about from Accelerator’s acquisition of Richard Ralphsmith’s Ralphsmith Communications in February.

Huzzard is pictured above (far right) with fellow directors Richard Ralphsmith (centre) and Domenic Brasacchio (left).

“As a business we wanted to build on our position as a strategically focussed quiet achiever to become, to use our parlance, a highly-creative extrovert,” Huzzard said.

“We began with a search for additional creative talent that would help us achieve that vision, which culminated with our coming together with notable creative consultancy Ralphsmith Communications, earlier this year.”

Under the terms of the acquisition, Ralphsmith joins the board as an executive director of the newly named business, along with Phil Huzzard and Domenic Brasacchio. Neville Jones (chairman) and Simon Reynolds will continue their roles as non-executive directors on the board.

The DPR&Co name is a variation on the convention of naming agencies based on the initials of the Principal’s first names.

“We wanted to highlight the importance of our re-positioning with a very powerful and visible symbol of change,” Ralphsmith said, as he steps into the role of executive creative director.

“The shift in emphasis will build on the extraordinary strategic capability of this firm to give it a highly developed creative edge.”

The rebranding, effective immediately, also coincides with a change of address for the firm to a new location in Richmond.

DPR&Co executive director and MD Domenic Brasacchio said a number of highly-creative campaigns were in the works for new and established clients, including jobs for Ambulance Victoria, Honda and Sabco.

“The new output is of a quality we’re all really proud of,” Brasacchio said.

“We want to build a reputation as one of the region’s most creative firms, but always focused on the business outcomes we drive for our clients.”