Imagine This, a global creative studio serving the advertising sector, has been launched under the aegis of founder and CEO Toby Walsham who previously served as managing director and partner of U.K. production company FAMILIA. Joining Walsham at Imagine This–which offers talent and resources ranging from strategy and insight to production, postproduction, creative direction, and technology services–are Dave East as partner and creative director, Robyn Walsham as partner and chief brand officer, and Dave Campbell as partner and executive producer. The shop is designed to provide brand and agency clients a Swiss-army-knife of creative capabilities to aid them in problem solving across every stage of campaign development.
Creative director East, who’s from the U.K., has been working independently as a freelance director. His credits include commercials for such brands as Kodak, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Palace and Apple Music, music videos for Ezra Miller, The Foals, and Sean Paul, and commercial still photography for Samsung, Coutts, Under Armour, Audi and Adidas.
Robyn Walsham, also from the U.K., has been a freelance creative director and hair & make-up designer within the advertising, music promo, TV and feature film space represented by Wizz & Co.
And Campbell is the founder of Los Angeles-based Rogue Rep, and formerly worked for ChiatDay, Saatchi & Saatchi, Wieden+Kennedy, FCB and Microsoft. Campbell will continue to run Rogue Rep while assuming his new leadership role at Imagine This.
The business model at Imagine This allows its talent to be repped non-exclusively to facilitate creative growth and flexibility, and connect the dots between more creators, studios, agencies, and other entities. Imagine This provides production support and representation to not only directors but varied talent that includes photographers, designers, art directors, composers, and VFX artists. The studio opens with 17 creators, including innovator Anita Fontaine, known for her work blending emerging technologies such as AI, AR and VR with traditional creative concepts; director and producer Ntando, who’s influenced and helped shape the visual landscape of contemporary music through his work with leading rap artists; and Clio Award-winning director/photographer Brandon Lavoie, known for his critically acclaimed travel content that has taken him to some of the world’s most beautiful and remote destinations. Lavoie is an alum of SHOOT’s 2020 New Directors Showcase.
The talent lineup at Imagine This currently spans the U.S., U.K., South Africa, Switzerland and Greece.
Toby Walsham said, “With the industry having faced significant challenges over the past couple of years, it’s time to break the mold and evolve stale models and processes that are holding us back from being creative, cost effective and above all imaginative in the way we approach commercial production. We’re here to change the dynamic, offer up exciting new ways of working for creatives and create craft-forward, impactful work for brands. Watch this space.”
Effie UK and Ipsos Report Concludes Marketing Industry Should Do Its Part To Heal Societal Divisions
Society has never been more divided, according to a new report Healing the Divide in which Effie UK and brand and advertising experts from Ipsos explored brands’ role in shaping society and healing societal divisions.
The report details how instability, inflation, and COVID recovery —the convergence of multiple interconnected crises around the world that coincide with and amplify each other, causing hard to resolve systemic challenges, have become the norm over the past few years. As a result, the use of division as a weapon is now a major theme in today’s culture and politics, and sadly 47% of the UK and 49% of the US agree with the statement that “Within my lifetime, society in my country will break down,” according to Ipsos Global Trends 2024.
While some brands have tried to respond to this, the report finds responsible marketing is now threatened by weaponized division. It points to the World Federation of Advertisers’ decision to shut down the Global Alliance for Responsible Media following an antitrust lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X, combined with DEI rollbacks, as significant setbacks.
The report says these setbacks underline the importance of marketing in solving collective problems, such as climate change, food security, and harmful online content. It also points to a need for marketers to take more interest in and more responsibility for healing divisions.
Research claims marketers are ideally placed to build and rebuild the antidote to division (trust, empathy, a sense of control, connection and collaboration). According to the Ipsos Veracity index of trusted professionals, society is becoming more trustworthy of advertising executives. Additionally, 57% of Britons agree that brands should communicate their... Read More