Former TBWA Sydney CCO Evan Roberts and whiteGREY CEO Lee Simpson have joined forces to launch new venture Tightknit Studio.
Roberts and Simpson said Tightknit will help clients navigate uncertain times by “making the complex beautiful”.
This demands the business work with clients in new ways. Tightknit said it can serve as a traditional agency, working tightly with in-house teams or as an outsourced Marketing function across the full Marketing mix.
It added it has an “AI strategy” but believes the skills of judgement, taste and curation are more valuable now not less.
“Tightknit is a promise of how we work and what we deliver. We know business is more challenging than ever before. Tightknit Studio is a creative practice born to tame this complexity and turn it into something beautiful,” said Roberts.
“We’re on a mission to take creativity to new places and apply it across as many areas of an organisation as we can. This gives us more opportunity to tackle both familiar challenges and new kinds of problems,” added Simpson.
The pair are a proven entity having worked together at ClemengerBBDO Melbourne (Simpson as managing partner and Roberts as ECD), together creating NAB’s long running brand platform ‘More Than Money’ and the highly acclaimed ‘Meet Graham’ for Transport Accident Commission among others.
“Building an agency from scratch means we aren’t dealing with legacy structures and can set ourselves up for the emerging future as well as help clients find their place in it. It’s an incredibly exciting moment in time,” said Simpson.
In his previous role, Simpson led the revitalisation of whiteGREY as CEO, transforming it into a top ten agency in APAC for creativity and effectiveness (Cannes and WARC respectively); celebrated by Fast Company for world-changing ideas and he left with the agency holding the titles of AFR’s Most Innovative Media & Marketing Company and the Most Innovative Small business in ANZ.
Prior to that Simpson worked at respected agencies in the UK and Australia including Grey London, AMVBBDO London and M&C Saatchi Australia – earning over 200 industry awards across creativity, data, and technology, notably including two Cannes Grand Prix, a D&AD Black Pencil, and gold at both Euro and APAC Effies.
With more than two decades of experience Roberts has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most respected creative leaders, creating some of the country’s most enduring brand platforms as well as world-first creative innovation. He’s worked across many of Australia’s – and world’s – biggest brands including Mars, Apple, HEINZ, Airbnb, NAB, CUB, TAC and the Australian Defence Force.
His work has been recognised with the highest creative and effectiveness accolades possible including multiple Cannes Grand Prix, the prestigious D&AD Black Pencil, three Fast Company Most Innovative ideas and the Grand Effie. In his time at Clemenger BBDO the agency won Cannes AOTY, D&AD AOTY and he was ranked #1 creative director in the world as a result.
In his most recent role as CCO of TBWA Sydney, Roberts led the agency to success at Cannes, D&AD and The One Show as well as being awarded multiple Fast Company Most Innovative Ideas. Beyond Sydney he led global pitches for the TBWA collective and was part of reinvigorating Media Arts Lab in Australia.
“When I look back at the noteworthy projects I’ve been part of over the years, they all had two things in common: deep collaboration and creative discipline. Those are the fundamentals we’re building Tightknit on and in the increasingly fast-paced and fragmented landscape we work in, they’ve never been more important,” said Roberts.
