Bright Signals Acquires Neu

Award-winning Glasgow-based creative agency Bright Signals has acquired digital innovation studio Neu. The two businesses will now operate as a single integrated team under the Bright Signals brand.

Bright Signals creates and promotes a range of creative and interactive marketing content for brands like Edinburgh Gin, Skyscanner, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Highland Spring, while Neu brings the likes C&C (owners of Tennent’s Lager) and US-based Mark Antony Brands International (which owns the White Claw hard seltzer brand) to the stable.

The move follows the acquisitions of advertising agency PUNK Creative and digital agency Three Part Story, which were purchased by Bright Signals in April 2022.

Managing Director and founder David Craik said:

“Bright Signals has a strong track record of helping brands innovate using digital technologies. Coming together with Neu really bolsters that capability, and we’re delighted to welcome what is an outstanding team, along with really exciting clients."

“Our vision in creating Bright Signals was to take a more agile approach to marketing communications, leveraging the real-time feedback ‘signals’ afforded by digital channels to test, iterate, and improve on risky fire-and-forget campaigns. The Neu team share that ethos and are experts in applying rapid prototyping to the development of immersive interactive experiences and digital products. Together – and along with the teams that joined us from PUNK and Three Part Story – we’re able to provide a ‘full funnel’ approach that connects brand advertising, performance marketing and conversion, all underpinned by sophisticated data, testing and optimisation."

Neu founder Grant MacLennan said:

“I’ve always viewed Bright Signals as a hugely exciting agency – one that is genuinely disruptive. The growth they’ve achieved in just a few years is testament to the fact that their approach is not only forward-thinking, but works. We’ve collaborated successfully on multiple occasions and so bringing our teams together feels like the natural next step.”

Since being founded Bright Signals has won The Marketing Society Star Awards digital category more times than any other agency, with six golds and five silvers, in seven years.