PR agency One Green Bean has opened up an office in London, with future hopes of a third office in the States.
“We’ve had our sights set on the UK for a while,” founder and creative Kat Thomas told B&T. “Our vision is to establish a strategic network of regional offices that share a close DNA to the founding business in Sydney. Our attention is firmly on establishing London at this point in time, but we envisage the US would be a strong contender for the third office.
“We hoped our approach would resinate and fortunately it seems to. We’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response from the brands we’re talking to. I think our offering transcends the boundaries of what traditional PR agencies are offering, particularly when it comes to branded content.”
Sydney managing director Matt Buchanan has relocated to London to head up the UK venture. His replacement will be announced in due course.
Thomas added: “Although we’ve had the appetite for expansion, I was always worried about how we could authentically transplant the magic of what we do. I didn’t want to end up with someone running what could feel like an One Green Bean franchise. I’m thrilled Matt Buchanan is spearheading this venture, nobody knows our business better.”
The agency’s first client in the UK is coffee chain Costa Coffee with a number of briefs that span through the brand’s network of self-serve coffee bars being worked on already. Thomas hopes Costa in the UK will be a similar story to Virgin Mobile here.
“Virgin Mobile took a punt on One Green Bean in Australia seven years ago and we take enormous pride in the fact that not only is our founding client one of our biggest, but that we’ve been able to deliver so much brilliant, effective and award winning work for them,” said Thomas. “I’d like to see us follow the exact same path with Costa in the UK.
“I’m looking forward to giving our Australian clients the opportunity to access a team that is plugged right into European market, which is often a barometer for emerging global trends. Having a team in London will also bolster our capabilities to manage the global briefs we regularly receive.”
