Boutique agency MAW Communications has added 12 staff members to its ranks and is expanding its number of offices from one to three, following a raft of new business wins and a fresh new look.

In less than a year, MAW Communications has expanded from a four-man PR operation into a full-blown communications agency, and recently added a range of new clients to its roster, including Yamaha Motor Australia, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Rhino Rack, Suunto Watches, The National Trust, and Shimano.

The agency has also opened a Queensland office, and is currently opening a third in an overseas market.

According to creative partner Luke Dean-Weymark, one of the major drivers of the agency’s growth has been its rebrand from Men At Work Communications to MAW Communications, which reflects a shift away from the company’s original focus on male-oriented products and towards a broader consumer model.

“The Men At Work positioning was highly successful for our business. It gave us a point of difference and allowed us to approach a lot of businesses that might traditionally be ignored by a normal PR agency,” he said.

“But we had to grow, we had to evolve. We have our origins in PR, but we’ve expanded into a creative, content marketing and social media business, and a part of this evolution has involved changing our offering.

“It didn’t make sense for the business to restrict ourselves to a specific vertical and a specific skillset, so we have broadened our focus. The industry is changing so rapidly, and we had to evolve and change with it. It’s the best thing we could have done as a business.”