McCann Australia adds PR expertise to integrated offering, aligning with Red Republic
Creative agency McCann Australia is entering the PR space, aligning with PR agency Red Republic which has offices in Brisbane and Sydney and boasts clients such as Domino’s Pizza, Suncorp Insurance and Lorna Jane.
Speaking with Mumbrella, Ben Lilley, chairman, McCann Worldwide Australia, said: “Firstly in terms of the work we’re doing with the Red Republic, we’ve been active in Queensland for quite some time but probably in a smaller capacity. We’ve been looking for ways to increase our reach and capabilities in the Queensland market because we see huge opportunities up there.
Ben Lilley: McCann has been looking for ways to expand in Queensland
“The Red Republic is a well-established creative business in Queensland with complementary operation to what we’ve already been doing there for some time. They also have a Sydney office and a national reach and their PR, promotional and event services are very complementary to a lot of the work we’ve been doing creatively on a national basis.”
The addition of social media, PR, experiential and design expertise follows on from McCann adding media services in August 2015.
McCann will be offering Red Republic’s expertise as part of the agency’s integrated offering through its Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane offices.
The Red Republic was founded by Fleur Madden in 2003 and is a brand experience agency that specialises in marketing communications, including public relations, events and activations, social media, digital and design. Madden will continue as CEO of the Red Republic and will report to Lilley.
Fleur Madden will report to Ben Lilley
Madden said, in a statement: “It has been a pleasure to lead The Red Republic over the past 13 years as a successful, independent agency. I am very proud of what we have achieved and who we are as a company. In looking at what the future held for us, it was time to take the next step as a business to realise our full potential.
“Finding a partner that could help us expand and ensure we could offer our clients an extensive suite of services, and who was also the right cultural fit, was very important to me.
“Joining the McCann Worldgroup family is a tremendous opportunity for The Red Republic and we are thrilled to be part of a strong global network. This takes us up to a whole new level as a business and I look forward to bringing greater strategic and creative firepower to our clients, existing and new, through this partnership.”
On how the “alignment” with Red Republic works, Lilley said he could not discuss the specifics.
“Just as last year we formalised how we have been offering media services to our clients, this is an opportunity to formalise the ways in which we’re amplifying our message through PR, events and promotions by extending the services that Red Republic offers to our entire national client base,” he said.
Lilley said that while the Brisbane office of Red Republic will remain, Sydney staff will relocate to McCann’s Sydney office.
On the client side, Lilley said it would largely be “business as usual” for both Red Republic and McCann.
“We’ll collaborate as necessary but they will continue to run the business as usual, as will we. In the Queensland market, in particular, that’s where we see much stronger opportunities to pitch together because there’s a huge amount of growth in Queensland due to the nature of that market,” Lilley said.
“What McCann can do with the Red Republic in Queensland is to build something very unique to the Brisbane and the Gold Coast markets. Other than that, it’s business as usual for McCann and for the Red Republic.”
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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