Former Publicis Mojo executive chairman Graeme Wills has launched a creative and strategic agency called Joy in New Zealand, with plans to roll out a global network which will include Australia.
Wills, who previously oversaw Mojo in both Australia and New Zealand, has been putting together the agency for several months, as tipped by AdNews back in August 2012.
He has launched the agency in partnership with Razor Media director Andrew Wynne.
Goodman Fielder has come on board as the foundation client, moving over from Publicis Mojo New Zealand, which went into liquidation in recent weeks.
Wills told AdNews he plans to move the agency beyond the borders of New Zealand to create a “mini network”. He said he aims to open an office in New York next month, while suggesting he will also open an Australian office “at some stage”.
Wills would not be drawn on any exact timing regarding the launch of an Australian office for Joy.
“The agency will be unlike traditional models,” Wills said. “It's all about guiding high end clients through the process of selling to consumers in a changing environment. We don't care about being media or creative or strategic or digital. It's all about focusing on the client issue of how to sell a product.”
Meanwhile, the timing of Mojo New Zealand's closure and the opening of Joy around the same time has been questioned by New Zealand press, with StopPress suggesting that Joy has simply replaced Mojo, and that Mojo New Zealand's $16 million in debt could potentially be transferred to the directors of Joy.
But Wills told AdNews there is “no link at all to Mojo.” “The debt is Publicis' debt. The story about $16 million in debt is nonsense anyway, because $15.5 million of it is debt owed from Mojo New Zealand to Publicis. The bulk of that would have been Publicis debt which has been housed in the local company.”
While Goodman Fielder was a Mojo client, Wills said, “Like any new company, you have to take clients from somewhere.”
He said Goodman Fielder was the only retained client which has come over from Mojo New Zealand.
He also said he would be doing some project work for Mojo clients and that any Mojo clients who choose to join Joy could do so “seamlessly”. But he argued he was taking on this project work because a lot of Mojo partners had been left in the cold by Publicis' sudden closure of the agency, so he was doing a favour for his former colleagues at Mojo.
“When Publicis revealed the closure of Mojo, I gave its clients the opportunity to come over to Joy. Some clients were caught in the middle of a job so I said we could help them out with finishing the job.”
Joy has also taken two staff from Mojo New Zealand, Kay Boyle and Graham Ritchie. Executive creative director Lachie McPherson has not come over to Joy, with Wills hinting that McPherson was starting his own venture.
Wills stepped down from his role at Publicis Mojo last year after Publicis took outright control of the company, buying the additional 40% stake in the business, which was previously owned by Wills and other local executives.
Wills was the single largest local shareholder, so stood to gain the most from the $50 million payout. It is understood he has used this payout to fund his new venture.
Wills told AdNews that last year Publicis had floated the idea of him buying Mojo New Zealand from them, but then took the suggestion off the table. He said his launch of Joy has been completely unrelated to any such deal.
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