Thinkerbell Acquires Hardhat: “It Was Just Too Compelling to Ignore”

Thinkerbell has announced a full acquisition of Australia’s leading CX company Hardhat to further build on its CX capabilities. Hardhat was founded by CEO Dan Monheit in 2005, and for 19 years has been at the forefront of designing and building digital customer experiences for Australian brands and businesses. As they like to say they get what makes people tick, click, swipe, buy and believe.

Margie Reid, CEO of Thinkerbell, said, “Dan and Hardhat are best in class at what they do, and we are always looking for ways to help our clients build their brands with our particular brand of Measured Magic. In order to keep doing this it’s imperative we continue to invest in, and build our capabilities across all touchpoints between the brands we work with and their consumers.

"Along with Dan, the Hardhat crew will bring something special to Thinkerbell, as they are specialists in thinking customer first across the entire customer journey as well as their behaviour change creative capabilities. This will mean that we can unleash the power of Measured Magic for our clients across their entire customer experience. This will in turn help us to continue creating brand led business transformation for our clients.

“Along with our expansion into New Zealand, our buying back of the PwC equity, and some deeper investments into production it's been a big year or so for Thinkerbell. We look forward to continuing to work with some of the most iconic and loved brands in Australia and New Zealand."

Dan will be a partner in Thinkerbell, and take on the role of chief CX thinker.

Dan Monheit said, “When the opportunity came knocking to do something bigger with Thinkerbell, it was just too compelling to ignore. The scale of Thinkerbell allows us to take our CX offering and apply it to bigger brand opportunities. Further, Thinkerbell’s measured magic philosophy, or marketing sciences meets hard core creativity resonates to our core.

"Our skill set will further build on the Thinkerbell offering and we look forward to seeing what our combined forces can do. This is especially true for all of the clients who have backed us until now, who will immediately benefit from Thinkerbell’s world class strategic and creative firepower. Over time we will retire the Hardhat brand as we enter our next chapter as Thinkerbell.”

Adam Ferrier, chief thinker of Thinkerbell, said, “The successful agencies and consultancies today have a much broader remit than just advertising. From our inception we’ve embraced a broader marketing palette, embracing brand strategy, PR, research and media.

"Bringing Dan and his team on board means we can deliver measured magic through the entire customer experience, and ensure we offer a holistic brand led business transformation offer to our clients. I’ve known Dan for years, we catch up regularly, and we share a similar point of view on the world. Dan has built an incredible business in Hardhat and we are extremely proud to bring the business into the Thinkerbell family.”

Thinkerbell remains 100% independent.