BABYLON was co-founded by Ed Hallinan & King ADZ after they teamed up in one of London's big agencies and then spent several tours of duty fighting (middle management) next to each other, creating a slew of original branded content, TVC's, a gazillion social ads, and some lekker lekker OOH. They moved about a bit before realising that they needed to take control of not only their lives, but also their clients, as they spotted a gap in the market -- original branded content based on culture but rooted deeply in strategy. Everyone and their dog claimed to be able to create this, but none of the other agencies (both big and small) could actually deliver this as they didn't have the right to play in that arena.
OUR SHOWREEL
CURRENT CLIENTS
TYX STUDIOS / BLOCKHEAD ENERGY GUM / GONE WITH / YOVIVO.COM
ABOUT ADZ
Adam Stone AKA King ADZ is a creative director (who also directs) who has devoted his life to both brands and street culture. His key skill is bringing ideas kicking and screaming into life onto the screen (both big and small), and as as both creative director & director has helped Apple freestyle, Smirnoff turn queer, Nando’s stay hot, and Guinness get blacker. Most recently ADZ helped introduce Italian heritage brand Lotto Sport to a whole new generation.
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In the early noughties, he was a founding member of the original street art community working with artists such as Banksy, Blek, Hush, Invader, Obey and Swoon, wrote several books, and made a couple of feature documentaries about this time of his life.
He’s worked in Europe, North America, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa for the past 30-years, and has had 9 books published internationally by Thames & Hudson, Penguin, and HarperCollins, directed two feature documentaries (Blek le Rat, 2006, and The Iconoclast, 2017) and has made a lot of TVC’s, branded content, and social media ads.
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​‘Over the last decade, I’ve forged my own visual style, which runs through TVCs, social ads, and even the longer form documentaries I’ve been lucky enough to make. My obsession with all aspects of street culture — style, food, sounds — which was once a sub-culture, has given me this edge over the more traditional of film-makers, as by now, this culture has become the wallpaper of the younger generations. For this I’m eternally grateful.’ King ADZ
ABOUT ED
Ed was still figuring it all out when the politics of ad agency life landed him a BD role at a prolific red tape hot spot London media house. Till then he’d done the rounds; from copywriter to content marketer, SEO backlink craftsman, and agency suit. All fairly structured disciplines, but with painfully few opportunities to connect the dots.
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Then he met ADZ and things got interesting: part mentor, part partner-in-crime, the duo saw a chance to merge that digital knowhow with culturally defining creative to reimagine the way content is made. It was here that Ed found his calling as a ‘strategist’, although as he prefers to spin it: the art of common sense. Ask enough of the right questions and you’ll tend to unearth some pretty killer insights. Insights that have enabled Ed to bring SpongeBob back to kids; set Mr Monopoly on the loose; show Life’s More Fun with The Entertainer; help Hasbro take on Uno with a game of Life or Dare; champion the kids who Give a Puck for PopSockets and make O2 feel Like New.
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But this is just the beginning.
Now, out in the wild and unbounded by the shackles of conveyor belt ideation, it’s how Ed mixes his logic, planning and creativity, with ADZ’s vision, artistic skill and cultural intuition that provides the backbone of this dynamic new outfit. Here begins a new approach to figuring it all out - bringing stalwarts back to their roots and challengers out into the open.
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This is Babylon.
PREVIOUS CLIENTS
Lacoste / Smirnoff / Nando's / Levi's / Guinness / Apple / Lotto Sport /Estrella Damm / giffgaff
The NorthFace / Lego / The Open University / Absolut / Royal Mail / O2 / Harry Potter