Rest in peace S-W-H, Long Live INDIE, Amsterdam instead.

I bumped into Mark Aink in Cannes, as proven here with a blurry phoneshot from Gutter bar, and did ask him about Indie - the new agency born from what was once known as S-W-H. Can't for the life of me recall all the clever things he said (everything ever said at the gutter bar is the smartest thing ever, but it evaporates the next morning), but he did confess that relaunch of S-W-H to Indie is all part of a "reset", just like the one Balmer was talking about.

All cleaned up and ready for their closeups, Mark Aink and Lode Schaeffer of Indie have much more to say about their metamorphosis.

Managing Partner, Mark Aink says:

“First instincts can sometimes lead businesses to seek what they know and try to maintain stability despite changes occurring within their industry. It’s time for businesses, ours included, to realise that things aren’t changing but they’ve already changed. The changes that we have made over the years within S-W-H are manifested in the roots of Indie.”

Creative Director and Founding Partner of S-W-H, Lode Schaeffer, says:

“S-W-H was established in 1997. It doesn’t sound that long ago but, since then, we’ve seen exponential changes in the world around us, especially in the rise of new media. YouTube, camera-phones, TV on-demand, blogs, MP3, even Google didn’t exist back then, and now they are an everyday part of our lives. It’s a no-brainer that change has also occurred within our agency. Indie takes on board all of those changes and embraces them. We’re looking ahead to the not-yet-known.”

Indie made a splash in Cannes with a giant beach towel that proudly displayed their new name, which is much more than just a new name as Non-Executive Director, Tim O’Kennedy is keen to point out.

“Let’s be clear – this is more than a name change or a new logo. The birth of Indie is in direct response to where we see the industry going. We’re getting ahead of the curve, leading the call for change in the way agencies partner with clients and conduct business. It's a genuinely new day for a great agency.”

So instead of chasing the trends, will an advertising agency finally be on top of them? Indie's passport booklet points to a fundemental change at heart, the agency is fluid, the center is digital, the ideas are the core. Sounds like they have the right idea.