Jonathan Rands Promoted to Thinkerbell ECD: “My Ambition Is To Go For Gold"
Jonathan Rands has been promoted to executive creative tinker at Thinkerbell Melbourne, and told LBB the agency has "the best clients in Australia."
“My ambition is to go for gold, I want to make sure we make the best work for those clients.”
Promoted from his previous role as creative director of the independent agency, Jonathan said he enjoys “working with teams and nurturing talent within our industry, and within our agency.”
“I love having a higher role that helps bring the talent up and look after the talent below, I've always enjoyed that part of the job.”
Speaking about Jonathan's promotion, Thinkerbell South's chief creative tinker, Tom Wenborn, told LBB, "Over the past few years we've been fortunate to benefit from Randsy's deep love of brand and considered craftsmanship. We're excited to see his influence expand in his new role. He's a very important part of putting our Measured Magic thinking on the global stage."
That focus on craft underpins Jonathan's ambition as ECD, and is a factor he mentions “has been a big part of my game throughout my career.”
“We've got a great department, we've got an awesome head of craft. I want to make sure we're adding that level of craft to everything that we make, that's one of my goals. And making the best work that we possibly can in Australia for the best possible clients, that's another goal."
Of Thinkerbell’s independence, he added, “Since I went to the independent side, I've never looked back. I love being part of the independent side -- making our own rules and breaking our own rules, it gives us a chance to have a bit more say in how we do things. I'm looking to add my spin on a few things. I'm looking to help continue to nurture the talent that we've got and bring in some more world class talent.”
Despite the promotion, Jonathan won't be stepping away from the day-to-day of the work entirely in his new role. "I still will be on the tools a bit – I can't help myself.” He said that while ECDs are often pulled further away from the work and into a management position, "it's important to not just stay on the tools, but find shiny new ones. And keep your old ones sharp, otherwise they'll get blunt very quickly."
Asked what makes Thinkerbell such fertile ground for creativity, Jonathan points to the agency’s alchemy model, which means “you get to do more roles in different departments than you normally would in other agencies."
“We've got quite a unique way of doing things here, and I think we have quite a flat level structure. Everybody gets involved, everybody has a lot of strings to their bow," he continued.
“That harnesses and creates this collaborative environment. It’s Thinkerbell’s thing that allows everyone to get stuck in on different stuff. There's no precious people here. There’s a really good energy about the place that just encourages people getting stuck in on multiple different briefs.”
Jonathan said he is excited for the agency's future work, and his ability to shape it in the executive tinker role.
“There's a wave that feels like it's coming -- Australia as a whole is feeling really competitive in a really good way about making great work for great clients at the minute. So I'm excited to be part of an agency that's right up there, trying to compete with everyone else, if not be the front runner."
