Independent creative agency ATime&Place has launched a new division, the Digital Experience & Entertainment Practice (DEEP), expanding its offering into brand-owned entertainment, end-to-end digital product development, customer experience design and gaming.
From native apps and e-commerce, to loyalty and community experiences – DEEP will bring together product, creative and technology capabilities to deliver a unique and timely offering to clients.
The move comes as Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers, expected to command a combined global spending power of more than $12 trillion by 2030, increasingly favour more interactive digital experiences over traditional campaign-led marketing – pushing brands to move beyond one-off activations and meet audiences where they already spend their time.
Matt Lawson, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder at ATime&Place, says the launch formalises a capability the agency sees as critical to modern brand-building: “We build worlds for brands, and create ideas that give those worlds a gravity to pull people in. So having real expertise in the digital environments that younger audiences inhabit and a greater ability to create immersive experiences and useful products, is an essential part of that. Our work now sits at the intersection of culture, community, content and commerciality. When you combine that with entertaining storytelling and innovative ideas, it creates a very powerful offering for brands.”
The practice will be led by newly appointed Head of Digital Experience Jasmine Hansen, who joins from eGEN, where she led digital product strategy and development for brands including e.l.f. Cosmetics and Adidas, and built proprietary platforms enabling brands to engage audiences within environments such as Roblox.
Prior to this, Hansen held senior product roles at Sportsbet and previously led the Dumb Ways to Die gaming franchise at Metro Trains Melbourne, bringing a mix of product, platform and entertainment experience to the role.
Hansen says the opportunity for brands lies in rethinking the role digital plays in driving both engagement and revenue: “Marketing at its core is about entertainment. Brands that build experiences people actively want to take part in – whether through loyalty, utility or entertainment – drive deeper engagement and stronger long-term value.
“These environments reward participation, and when done well, they don’t just build engagement, they increase retention, deepen customer relationships and unlock new commercial opportunities. Platforms like Roblox, with more than 151 million daily active users, are enabling brands to unlock entirely new revenue streams beyond their core business. It’s a compelling shift for CMOs, where marketing is no longer just an expense line item, but a generator of revenue.
“I’m genuinely excited to be joining ATime&Place at this moment. There’s a real ambition here to build this properly and, by combining a strong creative foundation with product and platform expertise, to create something incredibly powerful for clients.”
Hansen will work alongside Creative Director Chris Jovanov, who joined ATime&Place six months ago following senior roles at AKQA, R/GA, Leo Burnett and Clemenger BBDO.
Jovanov says the combination of creative and product capability opens up new possibilities for brands: “There’s a real opportunity here to build things people actually want to spend time with. That shift towards more useful, experience-led work feels right for where brands need to go. Having Jasmine’s product experience in the mix, alongside the broader team, means we can build things properly – not just creatively, but in how they work day to day.”
Lawson concludes: “Jasmine and our co-founder Adrian Mills built the Dumb Ways To Die games franchise together, which at its peak was generating multi-million dollar revenues through over 6.7 billion game sessions, so it’s great to have that team back together working on new problems and platforms.
“DEEP will help us create brand worlds with more depth, and meaningful entertainment experiences. The era of A.I and automation will for the most part mean more of the same in many more places, at a time when consumers aren’t just ignoring brands, but actively blocking them. So creating experiences people actually want to be a part of is essential for brands.”
DEEP launches across ANZ this month, with ATime&Place already in discussions with a number of brands on early-stage projects and further client announcements expected in the coming months.
Pictured (L-R): Chris Jovanov, Matt Lawson, Jasmine Hansen.
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