The week before last, the big news was all about AKQA letting its global CCO Rei Inamoto and New York general manager Rem Reynolds go.
Yesterday the two sort of explained their new project to AdAge in a piece that is long on ideas and short on details.
From the report:
“The company will be independent and will focus on design, technology and digital transformation…
…over the next few months they are looking to build out a core team of senior leadership against specific disciplines, namely strategy, technology, user interface and data.”
Inamoto himself said:
“Data is another offering we want to build in from scratch. Data science as a practice hasn’t been fully formed, but we want to create that from day one.”
So the company will work on web/user interface and somehow use data to better inform the design process. Inamoto also said that he wants to focus on startups rather than corporate clients and mentions such emerging technologies as VR, smart homes and internal messaging products like Slack.
The pair’s company does not yet have a name or any employees beyond its principals, but it does have a logo.
2015 + beyond: ★ Hello world. http://t.co/wtYREzjERq
— rei inamoto (@reiinamoto) September 28, 2015
It also has funding from an unnamed tech investor.
Inamoto told AdAge that the two knew they would be leaving AKQA for some time (our sources said the same), though the agency’s response certainly makes it look like they had to move quite a bit faster than previously planned in launching this new venture.
1999 – 2004: R/GA 2004 – 2015: AKQA 2015 + beyond: ★ Hello world. More soon.
— rei inamoto (@reiinamoto) September 18, 2015
The idea that all involved parted on good terms is, frankly, unbelievable.