TBWAWorldwide, part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), has acquired the business of innovation agency dotdotdash, adding deeper experience design and immersive technology capabilities to the global creative collective.
Headquartered in Portland, dotdotdash specializes in building future-forward brand experiences at the intersection of culture and technology, with expertise in extending brand ideas into new spaces and places. With employees in Portland, Los Angeles, New York and other markets, dotdotdash has worked with clients including adidas, PepsiCo, The North Face, and TikTok to create immersive brand experiences and technology-driven creative solutions.
Over the past 18 months, TBWA and dotdotdash have successfully collaborated across a number of projects. More recently, TBWA has started to engage dotdotdash on key global brands, including adidas and McDonald’s. This acquisition cements the relationship between the two companies, while bringing a more flexible working model that helps TBWA tap a vast set of highly specialized skills for clients on an as-needed basis.
Troy Ruhanen, CEO of TBWAWorldwide, said, “dotdotdash brings some of the very best and most imaginative experience design and creative tech capabilities to TBWA. By combining dotdotdash’s bleeding-edge capabilities with our own, we will accelerate our ability to deliver disruptive brand experiences and continue to pioneer our clients into new spaces.”
Luke Eid, chief innovation officer, TBWAWorldwide and the leader of TBWA’s innovation practice NEXT, added “dotdotdash sits right at the convergence of physical and digital–blending both to imagine new kinds of disruptive brand experiences. They have an equal love for the role of brands and disruptive ideas in creating distinctive experiences that break from the sea of sameness.”
Kyle Bañuelos, dotdotdash co-founder and CEO, will continue leading the company as managing director–alongside partners Billy Vinton, executive director, operations, and Adam Paikowsky, executive director, technology–as it scales as a distinct offering within the TBWA collective. dotdotdash will also become part of TBWA’s innovation practice NEXT, which focuses on how shifts in culture, tech and human behaviors are shaping the future of brand experiences. dotdotdash’s strategy, experience design and creative tech capabilities will further enhance TBWA’s abilities to ideate and deliver inventive brand experiences, while TBWA will provide dotdotdash a platform to elevate and scale their capabilities, at a time when clients are looking for agencies that can bridge big-brand thinking rooted in commercial growth, with deep technical expertise that is tailored to emerging tech and consumer behaviors.
Operating as its own brand within the TBWA collective, dotdotdash will round out TBWA’s existing experience design centers of excellence, while working closely with L.A.-based content and production studio BeGrizzlee.
Bañuelos added, “As we collaborated with TBWA on various projects over the past year, it’s clear we share the same vision for where the industry is headed–creativity that influences product and services, experience design and new forms of communications. That alignment, along with the opportunity to fuel our future growth with the brand thinking and global reach of TBWA, was exciting, as is the opportunity to be the tip of the spear to NEXT. We’re already working together to help our shared clients get to the future faster and are looking forward to doing more incredible things across multiple business units and capabilities.”
Notably, dotdotdash has spearheaded global activations for The North Face and PepsiCo; was responsible for bringing Industrial Robotics to Broadway; and executed the first-ever XR stunt within College Football on behalf of Xbox’s Halo franchise.
Alongside its track record of developing groundbreaking work, dotdotdash will bring experience-driven perspective and maker talent to TBWA, with multidisciplinary staff joining the 10,000+ creative minds across the TBWA collective. Their unique backgrounds across the art, architecture and computer science landscape will add greater depth and reach to the company’s experience design capabilities.
Oscar and Emmy-Winning Composer Kris Bowers Joins Barking Owl For Advertising, Branded Content
Music, audio post and sonic branding house Barking Owl has taken on exclusive representation of Oscar and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers for advertising and branded content.
Bowers’ recent film scores include The Wild Robot and Bob Marley: One Love, alongside acclaimed past works such as The Color Purple (2023), King Richard and Green Book. His contributions to television are equally impressive, with scores for hit series like Bridgerton, When They See Us, Dear White People, and his Daytime Emmy Award-winning score for The Snowy Day.
In addition to his work as a composer, Bowers is a visionary director. He recently took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for his directorial work on The Last Repair Shop. The emotionally touching short film spotlights four of the people responsible for repairing the musical instruments used by students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Last Repair Shop reflects the positive influence that musical instruments have on the youngsters who play them, and the adults in the LAUSD free repair service who keep them working and in tune.
Barking Owl CEO Kirkland Alexander Lynch said of Bowers, “His artistry, diversity of style and depth of storytelling bring an unparalleled edge to the work we create for global brands. His presence on our roster reflects our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of sound and music in advertising.”
Johanna Cranitch, creative director, Barking Owl, added, “Kris first caught my attention when he released his record ‘Heroes + Misfits’ where he fused together his jazz sensibility with a deeply ingrained aptitude for melody, so beautifully.... Read More