Havas owned Arnold reunites with sister shop The Furnace to rebrand as Arnold Furnace

Arnold Worldwide announced today that it is expanding its global micronetwork into Australia through the creation of Arnold Furnace.  The expansion in Australia is partly in response to increasing international assignments from Arnold clients, such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Ocean Spray and Progressive Insurance.

Existing Furnace managing director Tony Singleton will lead Arnold Furnace and will report to Andrew Benett, global CEO of Arnold Worldwide and global chief strategy officer of Havas Worldwide.

The office’s creative leads will be existing Furnace joint national creative directors Paul Fenton and Tom Spicer (flanking Tony Singleton in picture above).

“Arnold is enjoying a period of unparalleled growth. Not only have we added over 20 new clients in the past 18 months, we’re also growing our global relationships with current clients. Last year, we opened an office in Amsterdam and expanded our presence in the U.K., furthering our mission to become the most competitive, creative and results-driven micronetwork in the world,” said Benett.

“This merger with The Furnace is the next big step in that direction.  Australia represents a tremendous growth opportunity and The Furnace is an ideal fit for us as it’s a creatively driven agency that shares our philosophy of ‘Great Work Works,’ breakthrough ideas that yield business results,” Benett said.

Added Singleton, “We’ve put together a highly creative, results orientated team that’s paying real dividends in terms of attracting new clients and gaining momentum.  So when Arnold Worldwide identified Australia as a key strategic market and approached us, it was the perfect opportunity to fuel that momentum.  By joining forces with one of the most creatively recognized and fastest-growing agency networks in the world, we have a stronger platform to build more success for our clients and provide additional big brand, global opportunities for our team.”

The collaboration is already paying dividends with Arnold Furnace working on projects for current Arnold clients, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Ocean Spray and Progressive Insurance.  The Furnace has enjoyed a period of sustained growth over the past 12 months with significant business wins from new and existing clients including Warner Bros, P&G, Atkins Nutritionals and, most recently, Huawei. In addition to producing several internationally award-winning pieces of work, it has also made a number of significant hirings last year, adding to its creative and digital departments in particular.

“Having worked with the guys from Arnold on a number of projects last year I was struck by the incredible alignment of our cultures.  Arnold has an unswerving belief in the power of creative and puts huge emphasis on the craft and execution of those ideas, which is something Tom (Spicer) and I heartily subscribe to,” said Fenton.

“Arnold has been responsible for some of the most famous work in advertising’s recent history and have an enviable client list.  To have the opportunity to bring those brands to the Australian market is tremendously exciting,” added Spicer.

The announcement of Arnold Furnace fuels the strong momentum experienced by Arnold Worldwide in the last 18 months.  Most recently, Arnold was named the Global Agency of Record for Dell, and added other global clients including Alberto-Culver and New Balance. In addition to Australia, Arnold Worldwide expects to expand into Brazil in the coming months.