- VML is uniting its design capabilities and leadership under a new studio division called Brand Design at VML, based on news shared with Marketing Dive.
- Brand Design at VML makes a speciality of a variety of services, including brand design strategy and positioning, packaging design and tone of voice. The creative agency unit will likely be led by VML Chief Design Officer Robb Smigielski in North America.
- Intel, Dell and Krispy Kreme are among the many studio’s clients at launch. VML rejiggering its design offerings comes as brands proceed to refresh their visual identities and other assets to higher engage younger consumers.
VML, the WPP-owned creative agency, is streamlining its existing design talent and capabilities under one roof with the revealing of Brand Design at VML. The move capitalizes on client demand for design-related services, which have turn out to be one in every of the fastest-growing creative offerings at VML, based on Debbi Vandeven, the agency’s global chief creative officer.
“By formalizing the Brand Design at VML studio much more, it allows us so as to add more scale and momentum to a key capability that has been such an enormous driver of VML growth,” said Vandeven in a press release.
The past several years have seen an outpouring of name identity refreshes as advertisers adjust to a post-pandemic environment and modernize to appeal to Gen Z and millennial consumers. Threading a coherent story across an expanding slate of channels, from packaging to social media, can be vital to marketers that need to make a long-lasting impression on fickle consumers. Several other creative agencies have stood up dedicated design practices in 2024, including Gut, Goodby Silverstein & Partners and MullenLowe.
Brand Design at VML has recently attracted new clients reminiscent of Spirit Airlines, Krispy Kreme and Ionna. North American worker headcount prior to now 4 years has surpassed 80 creatives and designers operating out of VML hubs in Kansas City, New York, Denver, Chicago and Miami.
Brand Design at VML will likely be spearheaded by Smigielski, a longtime VML design expert. He is joined by Chief Strategy Officer Ian Davidson; Studio Director Mike Joosse; Verbal Design Director Andrew Shephard; and Executive Design Directors Michael Eppelheimer, Hamish McArthur and Meghan Still.
VML formed at the beginning of the yr from a mix of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. It is an important a part of parent WPP’s broader push to streamline its sprawling agency network. Other VML service areas seeing increased traction post-merger include customer relation management and loyalty, executives previously told Marketing Dive.
Creative agencies proceed to weigh on WPP’s performance following major account losses and softness from markets like China. The segment declined 3.1% yr over yr in Q3 though it could bounce back with the recent addition of deep-pocketed accounts, including that of Starbucks. VML was credited by executives as a key a part of winning the coffee giant’s business.
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