TMW Forms Partnership With Nelson Bostock Group

PR consultancy, Nelson Bostock Group and digital agency, TMW, have announced the creation of a new kind of agency that brings together the best in social, digital communications and public relations. 

Things With Wings is built on the central premise that ‘an idea has to be shared to be great’, and will differentiate itself through its understanding and application of new and emerging technologies, alongside an ability to build real-world, real-life experiences that drive deep brand and community engagement. Innovation and co-creation are at the heart of the agency’s philosophy.

The agency is a partnership between the two businesses and will see Nelson Bostock Group’s existing Things With Wings digital team draw on TMW’s technology, data, social and community management offering, to provide clients with access to a wider skillset and broader experience addressing the ever-increasing demand from clients for agile, bespoke solutions.   

The agency will complement both TMW and Nelson Bostock Group’s existing business, handling its own clients and servicing others from across the TMW, Nelson Bostock and the wider Creston group when required. The agency is already working with a number of clients, including General Mills and Diageo’s ‘Ask Dave’ initiative.

Things With Wings will be led by Vikki Morgan, the head of social at TMW and a well-known figure in the UK marketing industry, with a background in both PR and digital communications.  Prior to working at TMW she worked as a journalist, holding editorial roles at Econsultancy and New Media Age.  Her work has been published in The Guardian and Marketing Week, and she was named by The Drum as one of its ‘top 30 women in digital under 30 in 2012’, by Red Magazine as one of ‘20 under 30 for 2013’ and was a finalist in the IPA's ‘Women of Tomorrow’ in 2013. Vikki also sits on the IDM's digital marketing council. The Things With Wings team will report into Vikki, who will also be able to draw on talent and expertise from across the 300+ strong team of award-winning PR, social, tech and digital experts who work for both TMW and Nelson Bostock Group. 

“This is a natural evolution,” explains Lee Nugent, Nelson Bostock Group CEO. “We’re talking to more and more clients who want access to the skills that both we at Nelson Bostock/Fever provide and those offered by our sister company, TMW.  We’re already working together on a number of projects, so creating this exciting new proposition that occupies the space where innovation in technology, digital comms, PR and social intersect is an obvious next step for us.  By recognising where we complement each other and building on our respective core strengths, we are able to deliver an agency that’s both different and ideally placed to answer the new generation of client briefs.”

Chris Freeland, COO at TMW adds: “Things With Wings is an agency that’s social first, but understands the physical world and emerging technology very well.  Combining what we at TMW are best at with the ‘real world’ expertise available from the PR and social teams at Nelson Bostock Group creates a very powerful offer to clients. Together, we understand how to drive social engagement – both on and offline – and when you add imagination, uncompromised creativity and great technical nous into the mix, you get a feel for how our new agency will stand out from the crowd. We’re offering a credible alternative. Clients no longer need to draw a distinction between digital, PR and social agencies. We can help solve that problem for them.” 

Nelson Bostock Group and TMW are sister agencies in Creston PLC’s communications division, and have been co-located in London’s Soho since September 2013.  The new Things With Wings agency will formally launch on 2nd May, and will be located alongside TMW and Nelson Bostock Group at their Creston House base.  

Chris Buckley, TMW’s head of digital engagement and Bruce McLachlan, joint managing director of Fever (Nelson Bostock Group’s brand and consumer PR agency), will join Chris Freeland, Lee Nugent and Vikki Morgan on the operating board of Things With Wings. The senior management team will also include (from TMW) creative lead Graeme Noble and technology lead Marc Curtis and (from Nelson Bostock Group) social lead Dan Drage.