kwp! and Ikon join forces to create Ikon Adelaide – headed by director of media Natalie Morley

Independently owned advertising agency, kwp! has started the year with a bang by entering an agreement with Ikon Communications to set up Ikon Adelaide.

Today, virtually no creative agencies in Australia have media in-house. Kwp!, with its proven history in media communications as well as creative, has become the Adelaide arm of Ikon and in doing so, leads the way in the new breed of truly integrated agencies in Australia, delivering strategy, ideas, complete media communications and production across traditional, digital and experiential platforms.

This partnership reflects the strength of both companies – innovation and independence; further reinforcing kwp!’s position as one of Australia’s most progressive advertising and communications agencies and expanding Ikon’s national footprint.

Says Sylvia Mason, Joint Managing Partner, KWP!: “In this milestone year when we turn 21, kwp! has conducted a whole of business review to continue to improve our work and our offering to our clients. Media has always been valued as integral to the creative process at kwp!. From day one media strategy and planning have been a crucial in-house service.

“Our partnership with Ikon will give us the market credibility and the backing of resources to take our media offering to an even higher level. We have been very impressed with Ikon’s “ikonoclastic” approach. As a likeminded challenger of convention, we feel very much in sync with them and like the way they go about business to deliver great work and better client results.”

kwp! remains an independent agency, with no shares changing hands; this agreement simply brings together the best of both organisations.

Natalie Morley will head up the Adelaide office as director of media and will represent Adelaide on the Ikon national management team.

Morley joined the KWP team 18 months ago bringing over 20 years of international media agency experience in marketing, advertising, media and research. Says Morley: “We’re very excited by the prospect of working with Ikon to challenge the norm of media thinking in the Adelaide market. The Ikon platform provides us with new opportunities to bring about innovative media strategies for our clients.”

In addition, Lucy McFarlane will take on new responsibilities in her new role as Adelaide Trading Director. McFarlane has been with kwp! for six years and is excited to play a big role in the revamp of kwp!’s media function.

Ikon Adelaide will be recruiting for strategist and planning roles.

On announcing the extension of their footprint into a new market, Dan Johns, National CEO of Ikon said: “We are very pleased to partner with kwp! whose culture and philosophy fits with our own perfectly. Our relationship with kwp! completes the national footprint for Ikon with offices now in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth; this gives us a very strong national organisational proposition both for clients and for our people and we are excited about the opportunities this provides.”