Creative agency Smyle has reshuffled its team in a move that it says will “focus on virtual and digital events to sit alongside physical events”.
The reshuffle sees Smyle’s first employee, Dominic Thomas-Smith (pictured), assume the role of managing director, while Andrew Dawson-Wills moves into the role of operations director, with oversight of the company’s digital, technical and commercial elements. Both positions support the expansion of Smyle’s new virtual and hybrid events offering, ‘Beyond’, led by co-founder and innovation director Matt Margetson.
This comes at a key time for Smyle, after rapidly remodelling itself to pioneer virtual experiences with the launch of Beyond in March this year. It turned out to be a key strategic move for a company facing a devastating industry downturn brought on by the global pandemic. Despite an almost complete cessation of physical events, Smyle says it has been able to “showcase” new technologies, business models and creative thinking by moving its clients’ event experiences online.
Rick Stainton, co-founder and group executive director said it was a “watershed moment” for the agency. He noted: “I remember on the first day Dominic joined, promising him there were no limits as to how far he could develop his career at Smyle, that there would only be support for him to realise his ambitions. We are all very proud of his achievements to date and equally excited for what he will deliver in the coming years.”
CEO Keith O’Loughlin added: “Smyle is founded on its people and Dominic is the perfect embodiment of the energy, intelligence and forward-thinking that makes us unique. Together with Matt driving our product development as innovation director and Andrew focused on perfect delivery as operations director, Dominic’s new role adds further resilience to our leadership group. Navigating through the pandemic and recession that is forecast to follow requires imagination and agility, and we are confident that we have built the strongest possible team to not only survive but thrive.”
As well as driving virtual and hybrid experiences and nurturing the talented pool of creative and technical minds at Smyle, Thomas-Smith has highlighted four key areas of focus as part of his new role: digital, measurement, sustainability and diversity and inclusion.
He said: “Innovation has always been part of our DNA and I am proud of our reputation as agile creatives who have consistently reinvented ourselves to be able to create bigger and better initiatives for our clients.
“At no time has this been more evident than now as we aim to reshape an entirely new industry, thanks to our powerful combination of great talent, new technologies and imagination.”
