KWP! has relocated to the former Nova cinema complex on Rundle St
MARKETING agency KWP! has made a return to Adelaide’s east end, 17 years after it left the precinct to set up base in the city’s west.
MARKETING agency KWP! has made a return to Adelaide’s east end, 17 years after it left the precinct to set up base in the city’s west.
The agency and its 55 staff have moved into the former Nova cinema complex on Rundle St, following a $1.5 million transformation of the building by landlord Maras Group.
KWP! managing director John Baker said the 1200sqm premises offered room to grow to around 80 people, and supported the agency’s “fully integrated” marketing model.
“We’ve been down there (former offices) for nearly 17 years and we were starting to get restless,” he said.
“Because we’ve got so many diverse skills in the business, the need to integrate those seamlessly required physical change for us.
“In our 27 year history we’re now the biggest we’ve ever been - our footprint nationally has been the biggest it’s ever been and so we needed space to grow.
“We’d previously moved to one cinema in the west end so we thought why don’t we move into another cinema at the east end - it was about coming back to a really vibrant part of the city.”
KWP! previously spent 17 years in a warehouse-style building on Solomon St in the city’s west end, after its earlier accommodation in the former “Grand Prix House” building at the corner of Rundle St and East Tce.
The agency opened an office in Darwin in 2016 and has clients located across the country, including South Australian brands Coopers, RAA and On The Run.
KWP! chief executive David O’Loughlin said the agency continued to evolve as the impact of technology and digital offerings changed the face of traditional marketing.
“The way our business is moving now - it’s very much into this space of a fully integrated marketing model,” he said.
“We’ve probably brought in excess of a dozen different skill sets in the last 12 months that weren’t even on our radar 18 months ago.”
He said Adelaide’s east end would be re-energised as development of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site progressed.
“The creativity of this part of town, whether it be food, wine, entertainment, what’s going on at Lot 14 as well - it’s going to be a really exciting place to be, but also where’s more Adelaide than Rundle St?” he said.
The Nova cinema closed in 2016 after it merged operations with its sister cinema complex at Cinema Place on the northern side of Rundle St.
“After 20 years as a cinema base for Nova cinema, it was a challenging exercise but a satisfying one to repurpose the large cinema space into a two-level, purpose-designed office headquarters for KWP!,” Maras Group managing director Steve Maras said.
“It’s cutting edge on so many levels - in technology, services and design.”