Andy Greenaway joins Aussie-based firm Rumble as creative chief to aid Asia expansion

Andy Greenaway, former ECD at Dentsu Aegis Network (now known as dentsu international), has started up the Singapore office of creative agency Rumble, alongside CEO Dean Cloke (pictured right). Rumble's mothership is in Brisbane and Greenaway (pictured left), who is now the chief creative officer and partner at Rumble, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that him and Cloke have been talking to founders Remy Brassac, Nancy Hartley and James Burchill for awhile.

"They are doing exceptionally well in Australia and they ambitions of expanding into Asia. We love their approach to the industry. They want to get it back to being about creativity, innovation and people," Greenaway said. He added that Rumble's founders want to bring fun back to the business and that is an easy vision to get on board with. Founded in July, the Singapore team is currently 10 strong and it is looking to expand within Southeast Asia in the future, keeping an eye on Vietnam and Thailand.

Among the list of brands it works with include Sunsuper, Bishopp, Tourism and Events Queensland, and Tough Mudder Australia. According to Greenaway, it wants to deliver impact for clients by growing their brands and driving results.

"There's been a lot of chatter about 'choosing' between brand building and sales. Some say you can have one or the other, but not both. We don't believe the divide exists. Great brand building sells," he added.

Greenaway left dentsu last August after three years with the team. Prior to joining dentsu, he had a three-year stint at Publicis' SapientNitro. He held the position of APAC ECD with SapientNitro. Previously, he spent eight years with Saatchi & Saatchi. Greenaway also brings with him creative expertise having worked in various roles across Ogilvy where he spent nearly 16 years.

"I come from a creative background and Cloke comes from a production background. We want to bring those two worlds together because we believe that seamless approach will deliver better content. We want to innovate in that sweet-spot. To that intent, we are currently looking at bringing some interesting tech into play," Greenaway added.

Read the rest of the interview here:

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are the major changes in the ad industry that COVID-19 has brought about?

Greenaway: People are having to work in isolation which is seriously tough for our business.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How should brands start futureproofing themselves when it comes to advertising?

Greenaway: They need to create strong brands that sell. Brand building principles seem to have been forgotten in a lot of agencies and clients. But those principles, which help you cut through the sea of sameness online, are more important than ever.

Video is king on social platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We all know that but the key today is creating a spectrum of video content which is aligned, first, to a strong creative and brand idea. And second, built along a spectrum between low and high production investment. Agencies need to be able to produce 5,000 videos and 200,000 videos. Not one or the other but both. And whatever the budget, there needs to be a high impact idea every single time (not some quick and cheap artwork with little thought to it).

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some advertising trends brands and agencies should look out for in 2021?

Greenaway: I’m not a fortune teller. But for me it is simple - ROI. I’ve talked to clients who are struggling to hit 0.6% click through rates on Facebook. That’s because they are running ads which are akin to wallpaper. We believe everything we do has to be highly engaging.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: On the other hand, what are some trends which will fade away?

Greenaway: Experience is fading away. Senior people, because they are probably too expensive for the margin greedy networks, are being laid off at alarming rates. We believe in the power and energy of youth - it’s essential for the vitality of our business - but we also believe in knowledge and insight. We’ll be investing in both.

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