Nomads takes on Emirates’ ad brief

StrawberryFrog is no longer the lead agency on Emirates’ global advertising account following the dissolution of the relationship between the agency’s founders.

The account will now be handled by Nomads, a new agency formed by the management of StrawberryFrog Amsterdam and MediaCatalyst, which launched last month with the global Emirates ad account among its first clients. The agency is headquartered in Amsterdam.

The new agency was created after a parting of ways between Hans Howarth, the founder of MediaCatalyst and chief executive of StrawberryFrog Amsterdam, and Scott Goodson, the worldwide chairman of StrawberryFrog and co-founder of its Amsterdam operation.

Howarth will lead Nomads as the chief executive, while Goodson remains in the global StrawberryFrog role.

Emirates is a former StrawberryFrog client. Nomads’ other founding clients include Sony Computer Entertainment, TNT Express and Human Rights Watch. Its 70-strong team will be based in Amsterdam and Singapore, with plans for other offices already under way.

The management team comprises staff from Straw- berryFrog and MediaCatalyst. Lisa Lee has taken on the role of chief strategy officer, while David Warner is the executive creative director and Agnes Willenborg is the business and innovation director.

Howarth said: “Nomads is an agency that works with companies that want to move beyond their own borders, finding innovation at the point where brand, product, service and marketing con- verge. We work with those businesses to rethink how they meet, engage and travel with their audiences, as they move and evolve together.”

Last month Emirates handed its global media brief to Havas Media. The decision meant the account, which is believed to be worth an estimated $150 million, is no longer with Starcom MediaVest Group, which had held the business since 2008.