UK brand experience agency Amplify launches in Australia led by managing partner Gareth Davies

Amplify – the UK-headquartered brand experience agency that joins the dots between people, brands and culture – can today reveal the launch of their first overseas operation based in Sydney, Australia.

Being named ‘Brand Experience Agency of the Year’ by the UK’s go-to marketing publications Campaign and The Drum, confirms Amplify as the gold standard for brand experience and their entry into the Australian market will help fuse the best local talent with the best global experiences. Amplify Australia has already made waves by producing Spotify’s recent Front Left Live campaign, the brand’s first live playlist experience in the Southern Hemisphere.

Says Jonathan Emmins, founder, Amplify: “Brand experience and experience-led campaigns are becoming increasingly important within the marketing mix. Sixty per-cent of Amplify’s work is already international but we’ve not yet felt the need to set-up offices outside the UK. In Australia, however, we’ve had demand from both former clients who are now APAC-based and talented ex-Amplifiers who have either returned home or decided to base themselves in Australia. It’s an exciting place to be.

“Gareth Davies, who’s leading the new operation, and myself first met working in Australia together, and it’s something we’ve always wanted to do. But the country’s ever-growing youth market clinched it. In Australia, 15 to 35-year-olds currently spend $67-billion every year and in 10 years’ time they will make up 75% of the workforce. By 2025, their spending will be pushing $100 billion annually. So connecting with young audiences is crucial in this market and thanks to our on-going deep dive into modern youth culture – Young Blood – we have developed a highly nuanced understanding of youth audiences. It’s something we’re keen to share.”  

Amplify Australia will be headed by native Aussie, Gareth Davies: a long-time Amplifier with extensive experience of developing campaigns for global brands like PlayStation and Lexus. Well known and highly regarded in both the UK and Australia, Davies has previously worked with Jack Morton and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Davies’ role as Amplify Australia’s managing partner and executive producer will be supported by talent including account director Claire Whyman who joins from Wasserman and YAKUSAN, plus Zoe Wendland from Red Bull’s Culture Team.

Says Davies: “Having worked with Amplify in London for seven years, when I returned to Australia it was clear there was a massive opportunity to think bigger, smarter and more creatively using Amplify’s culture-led approach. We’re offering clients the best of both worlds: the best of Australian based talent supported by Amplify’s second-to-none creative studio back in the UK.”

With the London HQ working with brands including Google, PlayStation, Spotify, SONOS and Nike on experiences that range from quirky tactical activations through to massive launches, the Australian satellite will capitalise on this expertise by operating a blended model that merges the cream of local talent with London’s studio and resources. Both locations will collaborate across insight, strategy and creative to develop best-in-class brand experiences, events, comms, content and amplification-led campaigns.

Amplify Australia can be found at Level 2, 20 Hutchinson Street, Surry Hills, Sydney.

(Pictured – top row L-R: Jonathan Emmins, Krupali Cescau, Gareth Davies, Christophe Brumby, Amy Gopperth. Bottom row L-R: Lucy Montgomery, Zoe Wendland, Claire Whyman, Benji Teboul, Jeavon Smith)