Sean Cummins returns with full service agency Cummins Ross
Sean Cummins – one of the biggest personalities in the Australian advertising industry – has signalled his return with the launch of a new agency early next year.
Cummins Ross – in partnership with former colleague Jason Ross and six others – officially opens its doors in Melbourne on January 11. It will be a full service agency including offering media planning and buying.
The other partners – who have all bought into the company – are:
- Managing Director: Former Wunderman MD Chris Jeffares;
- Head of Media Strategy: Former Mindshare Associate Partner Kirsty Muddle
- Creative Services Director: Steven Tortosa, former national studio manager of Cummins & Partners
- Head of Digital: Faye Collay, former senior digital producer of Sapient Nitro
- Finance Director: Monique Swallow former independent accountant
- Head of Operations: Michelle Wensor
Cummins and Ross have known each other for more than 20 years.
“When we thought about what sort of agency we wanted to have, we knew it couldn’t be just a couple of creative guys sitting at a coffee shop” said Cummins. “We started talking about what we have called the New Advertising. It’s not just about digital, social media or all the journalese in the industry currently. We believe in an offering that creates this type of ‘no line’ thinking. So we are opening an agency that has Media, Digital Creative, Direct and Strategy from day one.”
Ross added: “It’s about a new era in advertising that is more personal, more relevant, more global, operates in real time – that means faster and cheaper – and is powered by constantly evolving technology.”
Acknowledging that the model goes back to a time before media split away from creative, Cummins said: “Specialists are ruining the industry and bringing down the standards of the work. By definition ‘specialists’ are not collaborators. We believe in collaboration of talents and technology.
“Advertising has been the poorer for the split up of these disciplines. And now, traditional agencies are scrambling to find ways to bring their various ‘brands’ back together. We can do it from day one.”
The agency has not announced a foundation client.
Ross said: “We have no clients at this stage but we have a lot to offer. So we hope to start fast. Whilst we are based in Melbourne, both Sean and I will be aiming to have an offering in Asia within 12 months. This may come from our own investment, or we may strike an alliance with a network that shares similar ambitions. We have chatted with a few.”
Sean Cummins previous venture was Cummins Nitro – since renamed Sapient Nitro – which created the Best Job In The World competition for Tourism Australia, one of the most awarded campaigns of all time.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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whoopdee doo. be prepared for a bunch of cliche’s about ‘delivering something new’. NEXT.
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“tiem beofre”
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That Sean Cummins sure is cute
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Didn’t hire Nyree Corby as his digital specialist?
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Hi anonymous 2 – ta – sorted. Hi Geoff, I think Nyree Corby joined for her brief stint with Nitro about the same time Sean was leaving. I understand her hire was driven by Chris Clarke rather than Sean Cummins.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Magnum.
‘It’s beautiful’
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Tim – Bravo, I couldn’t agree more. ‘New Advertising’ my arse, the full-service model has been around forever. Same old ad-land fluff
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cummins needs to be included on here – awkward lean in almost every pic
http://theawkwardlean.tumblr.com/
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A power mane is present , they will go places
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Good one kirst 🙂
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The full service model may have been around forever, but I’m struggling to think of many agencies at the moment that offer a true “full-service” offering. Most have various levels of ownership in different businesses servicing digital, media, strategy, creative etc but very few (if any) truly work as a coherent team. If they get this right, it WILL be a unique offering, and one that’s been missing from the industry for way too long. Welcome back Sean!
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The poppy cutters are out in force – let’s judge the pudding by it’s taste – good luck Kirsty!
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@About time: is that you Cummins?
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No, its not Sean, but I did work with him years ago and used to hear all about how the industry had gone to shite since media and creative split. Its about time he put his money where his mouth is!
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second from right has an amazing soul patch going on
kudos
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MUDDLE MOVES MOUNTAINS!
I have had the pleasure of working with Kirsty as a former Mindshare client, and she is an absolute pleasure to work with. Cummins did well to secure her in this partnership–she will be an amazing asset to the Cummins Ross team.
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How does someone get in touch with them?
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and I hear CD is joining them to set up Sydney office, what a coup!
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Well done Kirsty. All the best!
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who’s CD?
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lol at werewolf bar mitzvah … “spooky scary”
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Craigo – Capital letters? You sound as excited as me.
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Comes also as Cummins is about to start filming for a new pay-TV series about advertising. Build it up then sell it off.
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Go get em Mon. We are right behind you, all the best, unka
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(Edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
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It’s really good they’re going against the trend and making sure everyone is over 45.
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Wow ..what a sexy..dynamic looking team, wish I was back there doing it again from the beginning with the Passion Style, and Quality . The Cummins way .
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This team looks like there queuing at a soup kitchen for the homeless, (edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
Advertising is dead…
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Pete K you get the Monday morning asshole award. I guess everyone must think you’re fantastic and your resume no doubt undersells just how shit hot you are. I don’t actually know the Cummings team except for Kirsty whom I rate highly.
Seriously – why isn’t this site used more for constructive dialogue than useless slagging.
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As a client with the misfortune of having recently engaged a “full service firm” i can attest that the phrase “Specialists are ruining the industry and bringing down the standards of the work. By definition ‘specialists’ are not collaborators” is complete nonsense. It’s generalists who bring down the standards of work because they’re not particularly good at anything. And just because people work for one firm doesn’t mean they’re any good at colloborating – just the opposite, in my view, because they aren’t concerned about receiving referrals from the other disciplines.
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I realise why I rarely bother on sites like this, the self importance of gutless industry “professionals” hiding behind an alias in order to push
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a hidden agenda is ridiculous.
Good luck Kirst, you’re a gun, I’ve got no doubt you and the team will be successful with the new venture.
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“Cummins, Muddle, and Swallow”, would have been a memorable name for a Melbourne Agency.
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sven, Generals (and they are usually generalists) run the game, specialists live in silos and should interact with other specialists to produce something that Generals can present to clients to produce the best outcomes (results). are you, by the way, a generalist or a specialist? perhaps you have the wrong “full service” agency? easily fixed, unless you are a product manager.
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Good one Kirsty….
This is a great move for you and I know you’ll do a terrific job
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Jim
we’re not splitting the atom, this is just advertising for god’s sake
have you ever worked in a profession like accounting, law or engineering?
as an agency client my experience is that generalists are an unnecessary level of ‘management’ that waste my time and money, and that i’m better off dealing directly with the specialists who i expect, as professional people, to colloborate with each other for the benefit of the client
and while i’m here i’d like to revisit my assessment of the claim “Specialists are ruining the industry and bringing down the standards of the work.
I have upgraded my view on this claim from nonsensical to patently stupid.
Sven
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Cummins Ross And Partners (CRAP) announced today that the joke really was, on them.
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Hopefully Clarke will kick himself for having used Cummins to make his re-entry into the Australian scene…am surprised he continues to claim that his company was responsible for ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign – when everybody else knows the truth! Beyond that, what exactly has Clarke delivered since gobbling up CP? Go 4 it Sean and team. All the best for conquering the region and Clarke, who has (edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy)
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amazing! practically half are former sapient nitro people….wonder why the switch back to cummins??
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Dave the art input, you might think that, (edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons)
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I’m now closing this comment thread for legal reasons.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella