Another Industry Heavyweight Joins Iris

Independent integrated marketing network iris Worldwide has today announced that industry heavyweight and former chairman of TBWAEurope, Paul Bainsfair, will become non-executive director. In an unlikely partnership between the traditional agency veteran and the agency that launched to expose the mediocrity of traditional agency networks, Bainsfair will work closely with iris’ joint CEO Ian Millner and Chairman Drew Thomson to advise on avoiding the pitfalls of growing a network.

Ian Millner, joint CEO of iris Worldwide said, “As our business grows we strive to stay fresh, innovative and successful, and not become complacent like our flabby counterparts. Paul knows the pitfalls and can turn this knowledge into creating a network that’s smarter, faster, more flexible, and better to work with than the traditional agency networks.” Bainsfair said, “iris is the complete antithesis of the traditional global agency model and that is exactly why it is such an exciting place to be right now.

As it becomes more global there will be challenges and hurdles to avoid and I’m looking forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to the table as iris continues to own the benefits of true integration and offer a real alternative”. Prior to running the TBWA network across Europe, Bainsfair was the managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1986, going on to establish his own agency, Bainsfair Sharkey Trott, in 1991. BST was later bought by GGT, which in 1998 merged with the TBWA network.

In July the Bank of Scotland Corporate made a £20 million investment in iris to help accelerate the agency’s ambition to become a leading independent global marketing network. Backing will help iris grow into new markets over the next few years, including Brazil, Hong Kong, Russia, Germany and South Africa.

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About the Author:
Laurence Marchal @ Reuters.