David Wheldon launches agency for global clients
David Wheldon, former global advertising director of Coca-Cola and ex-president of the BBDO network in Europe, is setting up an agency in London to handle project work for multinational clients.
He refuses to give details, but says the new agency is likely to start operating this autumn. He declines to name any clients or senior staff who are being hired.
The agency will follow the blue-print of two similar businesses which Wheldon has helped set up in Italy and Spain.
The Brain Shop in Milan was founded with former BBDO Italy creative director Daniele Cima. The Barcelona agency is El Sindicato.
Wheldon, who left BBDO last September, says: “It is a new way of doing business. It is project-based rather than based on fixed relationships. The focus is on brain-work rather than the leg-work which clients get from a big multinational infrastructure.” He says the agency will handle both local and multinational campaigns.
In his previous role as ad director of Coca-Cola, Wheldon helped carry out an overhaul of the company’s agency relationships, which led to many smaller creative agencies being hired. Wheldon says he believes other multinational clients require similar relationships to agencies.
