TBWA’s PR agency Eleven launches Melbourne office with Fee Townshend in local MD role

Tomorrow TBWA PR agency Eleven will officially open its doors tomorrow in Melbourne, bringing its approach of creating cultural impact for brands to Australia’s most cultural city. The PR agency has appointed Fee Townshend (third from left) as its local managing director.

Says Roberto Pace, managing director Australia, Eleven: “I’m a Melbourne boy myself, and while there are quite a few good creative PR agencies in Melbourne, there’s a real opportunity to go beyond this and create culture for brands. Fee is exactly the kind of leader we want for our local offering and she embraces the Eleven way of working. She comes with 16 years of integrated experience, most recently in a similar MD role where she won accounts such as Telstra and spearheaded the launch of Australia’s first PR offer targeted at tackling gender inequality.”

Says Paul Reardon, ECD, TBWA Melbourne: “We’re incredibly proud of the calibre of our current work and the recognition it’s receiving. Now that Fee is providing a dedicated focus in earned media, our campaigns will make an even bigger impact. Fee and I will be working very closely together. Eleven will have complete access to our creative talent, network wide.”

Says Kimberlee Wells, CEO, TBWA Melbourne: “Fee impressed us from the get-go, she knows Melbourne inside-out, but more importantly perhaps, she bought into what we’re about here: creating disruptive work. We’ve always had a strong earned media focus in what we do at TBWA Melbourne, but having PR right here in the office will greatly complement our planning, creative, digital and social teams. It’s an exciting time for the agency.”

Says Townshend: “Eleven is the real deal and I feel like I’ve come home. Alongside TBWA, we’re committed to creating culture through tools such as Disruption Live, Backslash and its influencer model, Hubblescope. Truly integrated in practice, creative to the core and delivering campaigns people will talk about. I can’t wait to disrupt the local market with the gutsy, ideas-led work Eleven is known for.”

Eleven Melbourne will be co-located with TBWA Melbourne, as is Eleven Sydney and Eleven Auckland with their city’s TBWA counterpart, working with the award-winning creative agency on integrated and stand-alone accounts.

Eleven has given its own ode to the latte-loving city by creating Melbourne’s first Snapchat filtered coffee, which will be served at the Eleven office in Coventry Street, South Melbourne. Locals will be alerted to the rich brew and ideas percolating down the road through a unique Snapchat filter takeover.

Adds Townshend: “Even the beans will be rested, post-roasting, for an optimal eleven days – ten being the usual standard. This will be the only ‘filtered coffee’ that will be acceptable in Melbourne.”

And as the sun sets the coffee will come to life in specially blended espresso martinis for staff and visiting clients.

Eleven received two Silver Lions at Cannes for Virgin Mobile Data Auction and M.J. Bale Unsuitable Journey.

Eleven’s Melbourne offering is off to a cracking start with a significant client win requiring an immediate team of four consultants, alongside creative and planning services.

(Pictured L-R: Eleven Melbourne leadership team: TWBA Melbourne ECD Paul Reardon; TBWA Melbourne planning director Jill Manester; Eleven MD – Melbourne Fee Townshend and TBWA Melbourne CEO Kimberlee Wells)