&Partners announces merger with national independent kwpx; rebrands to kwpx&partners

Full-service agency kwpx, with offices in Adelaide and Darwin, will be taking a financial stake in Perth boutique creative agency &Partners. The new entity will be rebranded to kwpx&partners.

The deal will give &Partners’ clients access to kwpx’s national digital, media and strategic resources, and kwpx’s clients access to &Partners’ creative, and production connections and capabilities.

While significant ownership and autonomy remains in WA, &Partners will be able to tap into the expertise and support it needs to offer a deeper, more integrated offering in WA and beyond – a long held ambition of founders Dav Tabeshfar and Bryan Dennis.

Says Tabeshfar and Dennis: “kwpx’s overtures couldn’t have come at a better time. We’ve had a few “What’s next?” conversations involving other interested parties, but none that allowed us to retain our independence in a meaningful way – not until now. Our business model, although efficient and effective, has meant that we’ve not needed to grow our salaried numbers. We’ve always scaled up and down, building teams around briefs. While this has been a good way to stay lean and resilient, it has limited the kind of clients and briefs we’ve been able to look after. The relationship with kwpx will mean we can have permanent digital, media and strategic resources in place, while retaining the ability to build production, branding and creative teams with local expertise, around Western Australian clients. The other obvious incentive for us is the prospect of feeding into kwpx’s creative offering in Adelaide and beyond.”

According to kwpx CEO, David O’Loughlin, the Adelaide based agency with clients like Tourism NT, Adelaide Fringe and Coopers Brewery, has been looking for the right partners in WA for some time: “The opportunities are here, as is the talent and the independent spirit. When we met Bryan and Dav at &Partners, it became apparent that they were the people we needed to work with in WA. What they’ve achieved creatively would be impressive for any agency, never mind one with a team of four people. They’ve built a disruptive agency brand with charm and a practical point of difference. And now, in partnership with kwpx, they’ll be able to offer a deeper, more connected service. We can’t wait to see where they take it next.”

Dru Mincher who has relocated to Perth from kwpx’s Adelaide office will become kwpx&partners’ business director, focussing on new business and integration.

Says Mincher: “I’ve had so many good conversations with passionate marketers, agency owners and industry advocates since I’ve been over here in WA. It’s clear there’s ambition, optimism and a feisty fighting spirit among the independents and I for one can’t wait to get amongst it.”