DOA, a new consultancy backed by Thinkerbell and Ebony Gaylor, launches
Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier and Margie Reid have partnered with Ebony Gaylor to launch a consultancy focused on social purpose.
DOA – or Decade of Action – was borne out of the idea that businesses must take action now, as consumers, and indeed the planet, run out of time to tackle the big issues.
Gaylor, a former client of Ferrier’s when she was head of mob and social change at the Australian Red Cross, said the industry is currently in a bit of a golden era where brands can get away with inauthentic purpose-led initiatives.
This, however, is about to change, she said, as the planet continues to “go backwards” as it grapples with climate change, COVID-19 and fracturing social dynamics. The agency’s name, DOA, will also be seen by some as a reference to ‘Dead on Arrival’ – “a reminder that if we don’t change the way we do business and brands soon, there’ll be no business model on a dead planet”, the agency said.
98% of people are going to think this means “Dead On Arrival”.
No?
Truth in advertising
It does feel like a sick joke. Surely as planners/strategists they would’ve known this.
Exactly what I was thinking. Straight to a body bag.
DOA?! From an advertising agency. Dead On Arrival. Not great timing. Does a name say it all? Like the idea, but stunned by the moniker.
Hi comments, thanks for engaging with the idea. Decade of Action is the name of the business. DOA is a reminder that there is no business model possible on a dead planet.
Cheers,
Adam
Classic planner post-rationalisation.
Good to see you’ve still go the gift of quick-save spin fella.
yup – imagine having to wheel that rationale out to everyone who ever sees the name of the joint.
Whoops, this is nearly as bad as the new Australia logo
Maybe you should read the article before making comments about the name. Classic Mumbrella audience.
Adam good to see you controlling your own moderating.
Dead planet notwithstanding, I don’t think there’s a business model in DOA
Hence why they have launched this agency – there needs to be! Businesses must do more!
Whatever it actually stands, or the intent, or the business model, for naming your business Dead on Arrival is ill advised
Is Mumbrella the publicity arm of Tinkerbell?
Genuine question.
No.
Genuine answer.
Vivienne – Mumbrella
DOA? They do know it’s ambo and police speak for “Dead on Arrival” don’t they? Oy Vey what a blunder of an acronym.
Oh they DO realise it’s a common acronym for Dead On Arrival. Even dumber choice then
If you have to read the whole article to get the convoluted reasoning for why Dead On Arrival is not a stupid acronym to choose for a name for a business linking itself to saving the planet .. then… well .. do I need to explain it to supposed communication gurus?
They have to be the largest and most successful independent agency in Melbourne. Impressive. Excited to see what they do next.
Brilliant, love it, a great position and business purpose. Ignore the tyre-kickers, I love the play on the name
“The agency’s name, DOA, will also be seen by some as a reference to ‘Dead on Arrival’ – “a reminder that if we don’t change the way we do business and brands soon, there’ll be no business model on a dead planet”, the agency said.” By some? By all maybe. And yes, I’ve read the whole article and still don’t think it’s a solid brand strategy.
Dead On Arrival is when emergency response fails to save the patient.
This decade is significant. I wish you all every success in capturing people’s attention and getting them to undertake positive action.
P.S. Wouldn’t it be great if the culture of this industry changed and instead of criticising new ideas and approaches, we supported them. What’s wrong with different?
I am pretty sure PWC owns a sizeable chunk of Thinkerbell from day one. Independent means doing it without the help of another. They are Thindependent at most. Fauxdependent. Anyone? Anyone?
PwC does have a stake in Thinkerbell. You are correct.
https://mumbrella.com.au/pwc-takes-stake-thinkerbell-467903
Worth noting I didn’t use the word independent in this piece though.
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
PwC have a small and passive stake in Thinkerbell.
No Vivien..if you moderate as much as Adam Ferrier does (lol) you’ll see in the comment section this:
“They have to be the largest and most successful independent agency in Melbourne. Impressive. Excited to see what they do next”.
Just questioning that, not your sterling journalism.
Just when I thought there couldn’t be a worse agency name than Thinkerbell. DOA as a name is exactly as it connotes.
Yeah, Thinkerbell was…a choice, but they got away with it. This one is inexcusable.
No website. And the name used by plenty of others. Gotta hand it to them for grabbing a headline and creating a stir. Can’t wait for the real name to be revealed. Maybe RIP? Really Interesting People.
Yeah, that’s DOA brought to you by RIP
Damn, the comments here are toxic – the advertising equivalent of people arguing about whether Batman’s suit should have nipples or not (the answer is “who gives a flying f—k?”).
Congrats on having the vision and fortitude to launch something like this during a once-in-a-century pandemic. I’m glad to see some of Australia’s best and brightest are focused on driving real change…
Finally a discussion worth having! – No nipples for sure.
The name is irrelevant if there are no customers … and I fail to see which C suite execs are going to ask this crew to come in and tell them how they should virtue signal better.
Hi All, I like this a lot. its strong and powerful, with a great idea in the name. I like the clock too. Its actually excellent work. A few disjointed people on this blog?
How long until DOA is quietly wound up and packaged away as another failed HGTF (Hubris got the Ferrier) idea?
I look forward to the the next spin-off launched in its place.
Possibly a consultancy specialising in normative analysis of behavioural psycho-attribution…
SYLTFR*
*(See you later, thanks for reading)
It might be worth noting that Adam is on the “expert working group” that oversaw the COVID brand mark for Australia.
https://www.austrade.gov.au/nation-brand/expert-working-group
What share of the $10 million did PWC get?
So that “expert group” is incredibly…white.
Has mumbrella stopped comments on this article? I’ve tried twice!
No. It just takes time to moderate. From what I can see, your attempts to comment were less than an hour ago, and we’re on deadline. Apologies.
As your comments seem to be very similar in nature, I have published one of them.
Vivienne – Mumbrella
So many opinions on an acronym from, likely, people who have never started their own business. Possibly, never named or created something for themselves. Good to see something like this being launched, I’m sure it can be a great success.
Clause 13, part (a), subsection (ii) of the AAAA (Association Against Acronym Abuse) Charter of Acronym Naming and Terminology (CANT) specifically protects certain acronyms from being appropriated in the manner that Adam and his friends seem to be attempting here.
” Any person or persons wishing to appropriate an existing heritage listed acronym (see Appendix F) must first apply to the AAAA with a formal appropriation.( Form 8.2 (c) (iv)). Applicants should be aware that there is appropriation request fee varies per acronym (Appendix ?F) and should they be successful an ongoing license fee depending on which acronym has been appropriated. Again the license fee will vary. No applications will be accepted for appropriations of a political, religious or scientific nature including but not limited to climate change, end of days and second comings.”
DOA is in Appendix F, just after DICKFACE (Did Italians Create Kittens For Another COVID-19 Excuse – only recently listed it seems)
I think that about ends this experiment, as interesting as it has been
Not so new. We’ve been operating in exactly this space for the last 2 years. But welcome to the party, DOA! The more the merrier… In the end it’s all about impact and helping businesses evolve to serve a bigger group of stakeholders.
Hi commenters
It’s been great to see the conversations sparked following our launch of DOA yesterday.
DOA is a name that is intended to get your attention and make us feel a bit uncomfortable. The global challenges we’re all facing and the change needed is also uncomfortable. So thanks for engaging on the name – I hope you’ll also use this energy to engage in the work, of not just DOA, but the many other businesses and brands prioritising purpose and action for the planet. Because right now, we seriously need it!
Lots of cutting comments from ANONYMOUS industry insiders…..
I love it. Both the business and also the radiant positivity from the comments.
Wow! What a lot of negativity!
We’ve been in this space for five years. It’s tough convincing agencies and clients who just need to move metal that there might be a purpose and a calling that could get even better results.
We’re in the middle of a campaign right now for an industry mired in its own misdeeds but still thinking it can get out of bed and do the same thing and get a different result.
And guess what? They have all the traditional agencies from content to advertising.
So good luck DOA. Welcome to the club and I hope you have the muscle to move over all those traditional thinkers and help people while we make money.
Can I just say – Vivienne Kelly’s replies to this thread of comments are greatttt!! This is how moderation should be handled. Informative sass at it’s best 🙂