Lion appoints Thinkerbell as sole creative agency

Leading beverages company Lion has announced the appointment of Thinkerbell as sole creative partner following a comprehensive agency review process led by Trinity P3.

The move reflects Lion’s transition to a new ‘Connections Model’ under the leadership of new consumer and brand director Anubha Sahasrabuddhe, who took up the role in January this year.

Says Sahasrabuddhe: “Australian culture is evolving, and the beer category needs to better understand and reflect those changes. To connect with the next generation of drinkers we need to redefine the role our brands play in their lives, and we believe Thinkerbell is the right partner to have along with us on that journey.”

According to Ed Stening, Lion’s connections director, the pairing of this new model with Thinkerbell’s deep consumer understanding and creativity will together drive a push to challenge some of the existing cultural norms around beer advertising: “By reaching consumers where we can have most impact, we can realise our brand growth objectives and drive better conversion and ROI. We’re now working to establish in-house expertise across creative strategy, media, digital, partnerships and connections planning to help unlock this potential.

“The pairing of this new model with Thinkerbell’s deep consumer understanding and creativity will power our ambition to challenge existing cultural norms around beer advertising.”

Thinkerbell have been on Lion’s agency roster for two years, most recently producing the ‘Unbelievable’ campaign for the Furphy brand.

CEO Margie Reid said the agency was excited about the appointment and will split the account across its Sydney and Melbourne offices: “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Lion across all of their brands in both a creative and earned capacity. Although this account will be split across both our South and North offices, this win is testimony to the exceptional leadership of Katy Dally (GM Sydney).

“Lion has a genuine belief that investing in and harnessing the power of creativity drives commercial outcomes. We are looking forward to pushing creative boundaries and supercharging their brand portfolio over the coming years. We can’t wait to make more Measured Magic together.”

Lion’s move to a single creative partner represents a significant move away from the previous ‘agency village’ model, under which a number of agencies were engaged across their brand portfolio.

Adds Sahasrabuddhe: “We recognised that we needed to get closer to the consumer and building deeper relationships within a close group of strategic agency partners in each key discipline is an important part of that.”