Absurd, the Manchester based digital studio, has kicked off 2018 with the appointment of a Non-Executive Director, Rob Noble.
Rob Noble was Founder and CEO of Great Fridays prior to its acquisition by EPAM Systems in October 2014, where he held the role of Vice President until June of 2017.
Since its launch last year by co-founders Oli Taylor, Sam Gooch and Oliver Bailey, Absurd has grown rapidly. Having been colleagues at some of the UK’s leading agencies during the past eight years, the three made the decision to combine their respective skill sets – design, technology and client services – to create Absurd, focusing on delivering outstanding service and differentiating itself via the use of service design to create compelling customer experiences.
Noble joins Absurd as strategic advisor to the Board – as a founder of Great Fridays, a core service design agency, his knowledge and experience will be invaluable to the business as it continues to grow. Great Fridays, while headquartered in Manchester, serviced a global client base, with offices in San Francisco, New York and London and counted the likes of MasterCard, Vodafone, PayPal and McLaren among its clients. With the Absurd team delivering predominantly international briefs, his experience in building a global agency along with his proven service design background will be invaluable.
The past six months have seen Absurd build an impressive client base that includes the likes of WALO, one of the largest privately owned companies in Switzerland, and Electrical Safety First, for which the consultancy handles a complete digital brief comprising content strategy and creation through to its website. December also saw Absurd appointed by Brother Europe on a pan-European brief, with the consultancy now handling a number of projects.
Noble said: “The vision Oli, Sam and Oliver have for Absurd very much aligns with the experiences I had building my own companies. The loyalty, authenticity and courage they possess will serve them very well and I’m looking forward to using my 20 years’ experience to support Absurd as the business grows.”
Oli Taylor, co-founder of Absurd, said: “2017 was an incredible first year – we’ve brought on board a host of great clients with really forward-thinking briefs that have challenged the team and allowed us to deliver excellent solutions. One of the things that differentiates Absurd is the integration of service design within our offer – over the past year we’ve had massive success through the continual enhancement of our client’s products and services and we will be working closely with Rob in the coming months to integrate service design further within our core services.”
