AnalogFolk London Appoints Colin Byrne as Executive Creative Director

AnalogFolk London, winner of Contagious Pioneers – Best and Bravest Agencies on the Planet 2022 and Campaign’s UK and Global Digital Innovation Agency of Year 2019, has hired multi-award-winning group creative director Colin Byrne as its new executive creative director. The hire continues the agency’s commitment to deliver ground breaking ideas for its clients and to use digital to make the analog world better.

Colin will join the agency, bringing creative prowess and internationally recognised talent that will play a key role in its continued growth in transformative digital innovation. He will partner with Anna-Louise Gladwell, managing director and Sol Ghafoor, director of strategic services, solidifying and strengthening AnalogFolk London’s leadership team.

Colin’s focus will be on boosting the agency’s existing creative excellence to new highs, leading its creative department to foster and unleash their full range of creative potential. He will oversee all creative output and work across a roster of AnalogFolk London global clients, which include Bayer, Diageo, Dole, Meta, HSBC and Amazon.

Colin has been at Publicis.Poke since 2017 where he is group creative director, leading creative output on Heineken and Renault. He is renowned for creating globally acclaimed work, including ‘The French Exchange’ for Renault, Heineken’s ‘Back the Bars’, and data driven innovation campaign for Heineken’s Champions League partnership ‘World’s Most Shared Moments’.

Prior to Publicis.Poke, Colin spent seven years at VCCP as creative director shaping and developing the agency’s integrated offering and digital output. During his seven years at the agency, he helped create some of VCCP’s most innovative and acclaimed work for the likes of McLaren, The Sunday Times and O2, including O2’s Be More Dog campaign and the O2 Priority app platform.

Prior to VCCP, Colin was group creative director at AKQA where he spent seven years.

His work has been recognised by many international awards juries including Cannes Lions, Clios, LIAA, British Arrows and One Show.

To create and ensure seamless and effective solutions for clients, Colin will work closely with AnalogFolk’s global creative leadership, as well AnalogFolk’s sister companies – content production company Untold Fable, behavioural transformation consultancy MindWorks, and tech engineering, web development and automation company With Robots - all which remain separate entities within the wider progressive marketing and technology group’ AnalogFolk Group.

Colin will replace Simon Richings who left the agency earlier this month after nine successful years.

Anna-Louise Gladwell, managing director, AnalogFolk London said: “We’re thrilled to have Colin join AnalogFolk London. He has a creative reputation for leading progressive, applauded work for clients and a proven track record in inspiring teams and clients alike through his fresh, innovative thinking. I’m looking forward to the energy he will bring to our brilliant team, the impact he will have on our clients’ businesses, and I am excited to see where together we will take AnalogFolk.”

Colin Byrne said: “AnalogFolk is an amazing place brimming with opportunity and a whole bunch of incredibly talented folk. Add to this the ambition of our clients and you have a stage perfectly set to create work that can make a difference. I’m delighted to be joining the AF family and looking forward to the good times ahead as we write our next chapter.”

Earlier this year, AnalogFolk London hired Amandine Fabian from Ogilvy New York as creative director and Dani Brown and Alex Wood from Digitas as senior creatives. The hires bolster the agency’s supercharged creative team, who over the past 12 months have won numerous awards, some of which include creative effectiveness, comedy effectiveness, social, public service activism for purpose-driven work ‘Vagina Academy’ for Canesten.