LONDON — Former Talker Tailor Trouble Maker co-founder Steve Strickland has returned to the agency world, joining B2B and consumer agency Cirkle as its first chief creative officer.

Talker Tailor Trouble Maker, the award-winning creative consumer agency founded by former M&C Strickland and Gary Wheeldon in 2016, ceased trading in 2023. Before founding the firm, Strickland was a global creative director at M&C Saatchi PR, a senior creative at Freuds and creative director at Weber Shandwick.

In his new role at Cirkle, part of the Accordience stable, Strickland will lead the agency’s creative team, reporting to CEO Ruth Kieran, as it eyes double-digit growth this year.

He has also been tasked with fulfilling Cirkle’s new creative proposition, ‘Seen it, Shared it, Sold it out!’, which underlines the agency’s promise to deliver outstanding consumer creative work that drives tangible commercial impact for clients, playing to its heritage in retail, B2B and trade PR.

Cirkle has also developed a proprietary measurement platform, Return on Creative, which is tailored to each client’s individual brief and shows the impact of the agency’s work on brand perception, consumer behaviour, and sales.

Kieran said: “Steve is renowned in our industry for his courageous creativity and passion for the craft of PR. From Cirkle’s humble beginnings to being named PRovoke’s EMEA Creative Consultancy of the Year in 2023, we’ve always taken pride in our ability to defy convention and deliver creative that counts – work that makes a real impact on our clients’ bottom lines, whether in consumer, social, trade or corporate.

“We know Steve will bring a fresh perspective, and I’m excited to see the impact he’s bound to make.”

Strickland added: “Cirkle understands the full product journey from getting products on shelves to driving consumer demand. The agency is uniquely placed to develop award-winning creative, proven to engage customers, grow market share and drive revenue for clients.

“I believe it is the most exciting creative business in the UK right now and I am thankful to Ruth and the rest of the team for allowing me to bring creative trouble-making to some of the best loved brands in the UK.

“I am proud to be creatively leading the agency that turned Wimbledon blackcurrant purple, transformed Tango cans into CVs for The Prince’s Trust, set the UK’s convenience retailers on fire with Walkers Extra Flamin’ Hot and opened the doors of Captain Birds Eye’s lighthouse to the public.”

Cirkle’s client roster includes AkzoNobel (Dulux, Dulux Heritage, Cuprinol), Birds Eye, Britvic, Dreams, Diageo, Dyson, Goodfellas, Aunt Bessie’s, Haleon (Aquafresh, Corsodyl, Voltarol), Ferrero, Premier Foods (Mr Kipling, Oxo, Bisto), Mars Petcare, Organix, PepsiCo (Quaker, Walkers, Tropicana), Royal Canin and Yoplait (Frubes, Petits Filous).