Source: Thinkhouse

ONE OF IRELAND’S leading independent marketing agencies has just been listed in the top 16 in the world.

Thinkhouse, who describe themselves as ‘youth communicators’ rather than straightforward marketeers, have been behind some very innovative branding indeed since their establishment in 2001.

Examples?

Well, there’s the giant octopus over the Rustic Stone restaurant in Dublin (a campaign for mobile network Three).

Source: Thinkhouse

The rebranding of the 3 Arena when it took over from the old O2.

Source: Thinkhouse

The re-imagining of Ireland and Leinster rugby star Jamie Heaslip as a 1920s gentleman player for charity moustache movement Movember…

… a campaign which also involved giving the Cliffs of Mo-her (groan) some involuntary facial hair.

Source: Thinkhouse

The company’s marriage referendum colours being nailed firmly to the mast with this Ben and Jerry’s campaign.

Source: Thinkhouse

And, of course, the campaign to get ‘Notorious’ Mixed Martial Arts star Conor McGregor to fold some paper for Heineken.

Source: Thinkhouse

So, they’re pretty good at what they do, as you can see.

Now they’ve been selected as a featured agency as part of Campaign magazine’s The World’s Leading Independent Agencies, an annual publication showcasing the top 16 independent companies globally as selected by international agency collective thenetworkone.

Trust us, it’s a very big deal in the marketing world.

TheJournal.ie spoke to Thinkhouse founder Jane McDaid and found her in buoyant mood with the news.

“We’re incredibly proud to be the first (Irish) agency to feature in the magazine,” she said.

It means an awful lot to us, these agencies are the ones we’ve always compared and benchmarked ourselves against, to be up there with them now is a massive achievement.

And will the agency’s new-found status kick-start an international expansion (they already have a London office to go with their Dublin base)?

Jane McDaid

“That’s certainly where our eyes are set,” says McDaid, who lists the 3 Arena and Heineken Sound Atlas campaigns as being among her favourite that Thinkhouse have worked on.

We’re researching the different markets at present, but there’s still an awful lot of work and opportunities at home for us to concentrate on.

Not a bad position to be in at all.

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