Agencies John Doe Group and WIRE have announced a merger.
They say the new agency will combine PR, advertising, research, digital, planning, experiential and a content studio, and will be a “production house for stories”.
John Doe Group, which has offices in London, Glasgow and Manchester, will be led by three managing partners: Lee Beattie as CEO, Magin Trewhella as CSO and Pam Scobbie as CCO. Rachel Bell, who founded John Doe in 2010 and has been chair of WIRE since 2019, will remain as chair.
WIRE has bases in Glasgow and Manchester.
The new agency has picked up new business wins with Tesco Mobile and Anglepoise and its existing roster includes Adidas Originals, Instagram, Edinburgh Gin, Magners and Red Bull.
Lee Beattie, CEO, said: “When we began working with Rachel, she told us straight away that we should meet Gin and that we’d love him and his team.
“From the get-go, we knew Rachel had been right. We were meeting someone who shared our vision and passion for running flexible and collaborative agencies that properly represent the different communities we want to talk to through our work. No matter the gender, sexuality, race, background or accent, we’d both been building super-talented teams that could bring their whole selves to work, have a voice and be celebrated.”
She added that by merging they could “super-charge all of our plans to create something really special”.
The founders will run a group of 38, supported by a senior leadership team drawn from advertising, PR, digital and events. Ollie Adams will continue to run the Manchester office.
Rachel Bell, Chair and Founding Partner, added: “In combining agencies, we’re bringing together a huge pool of talent. They are without doubt the agency to watch and that’s why this merger is so exciting.”
