senckađ
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
EDITION
Global
USA
UK
AUNZ
CANADA
IRELAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
ASIA
EUROPE
LATAM
MEA
Hires, Wins & Business in association withLBB Pro
Group745

How Amsterdam is Strengthening Wave’s Global Reach

13/01/2016
Sound Studio
London, UK
93
Share
Warren Hamilton, Founder & CEO, and Alex Nicholls-Lee, Creative Director, discuss the opening of Wave's second studio in Amsterdam

Wave Studios found success before they even officially opened. With a mix of fortune and fate, the company launched into existence off the back of the game-changing Guinness “Surfers” ad, which aptly depicts one man conquering the perfect wave.

A decade later, in 2008, Wave were ahead of the curve again in spotting Amsterdam as the next growing creative hub. Originally, the move was facilitated by a need to bring their studio to clients but, with seven successful years behind them, Wave has truly gone global.

Alex explains: “We’ve managed to break into Europe and make ourselves known, and our client base is going from strength to strength. It’s great to have people contacting us from all over the world and to develop close relationships with partners we wouldn’t normally be associated with.”

Wave has always understood that in an increasingly global industry, you need a global presence, as Alex explains: “The movement of companies like MPC to Amsterdam is showing people that it’s an important place to be; it’s nice for us to have been here so early.” 


Warren agrees: “Wave is a company that hates to sit still. We always want to grow and expand. We want to look to move into new territories; the picture is much bigger than just London.”

Since arriving in Amsterdam, Wave has stayed true to Warren’s big ideas and secured exciting work with advertising agencies and production companies the world over. Recently, they worked on the audio for a truly ground-breaking project for Austrian men’s magazine, Vangardist. The progressive publication took blood donations from three HIV-positive volunteers and mixed it with the ink it used to print its May edition, which subsequently went on to win the Grand Prix in the PR category at this year’s Eurobest awards.

Alex comments: “It was an honour to be involved with a campaign that tackles such an important issue in such an inventive way. Being in Amsterdam has opened our doors to so many different and unique projects, Vangardist being just one. We want to continue to spread out and capture as many imaginative projects as we can.”

However, despite its global plans, Wave has not lost its family feel. A symbiotic relationship between the London and Amsterdam studios has been created, allowing the work to be seamlessly passed between the two. 

“Projects shuttle backwards and forwards between Amsterdam and London all the time, especially the international work,” Alex explains, “people love doing their post in London, yet enjoy the flexibility of being able to continue the production closer to home with a trusted partner.”

The two studios act as sister companies, with the teams in London and Amsterdam able to tackle projects from clients across the globe simultaneously, especially in mainland Europe.

Their global ambition, however, is driven by their home-grown talent. Warren says: “The collaboration between London and Amsterdam, and our plans to spread further afield, starts and ends with the skills and commitment of everyone at Wave. People like Randall Macdonald, one of our sound designers, and our producers, Ben Tomlin and Mirjam Gevers, have developed their professional skills no end; we wouldn’t be growing in the same way without our staff.”

With London and Amsterdam working in perfect harmony, Wave has cemented its position as a global leader in sound design and audio post production, but Warren still feels that it remains the same passionate company that it’s always been. “We like to think of it as exactly the same business, exactly the same company, it just happens that there is a quite a long walk between the studios.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
Work from Wave Studios
Rockstar
Argos
01/11/2024
13
0
Wizards of Baking
Food Network
25/10/2024
18
0
Dancing Can
Guiness
23/10/2024
28
0
ALL THEIR WORK
SUBSCRIBE TO LBB’S newsletter
FOLLOW US
LBB’s Global Sponsor
Group745
Language:
English
v10.0.0