From left: Tony Hird, Matt Bielby and Chris Raedcher, founding partners of Vancouver agency Here Be Monsters. 

A new creative agency in Vancouver is aiming to help clients navigate through a range of challenges.

Here Be Monsters was founded by partners Tony Hird, Matt Bielby and Chris Raedcher. Bielby and Hird serve as creative directors, while Raedcher leads on client and project services. The partners decided to launch the independent agency in order to have greater ownership of their work and to work more closely with their clients.

Bielby was most recently creative director in Taxi’s Vancouver office, while Hird was a freelance art director with experience brand-side at Lululemon and at agencies including Rethink, BBDO and Taxi. Raedcher was most recently director of production at Grey Vancouver.

“We’ve had a lot of experience in the integrated agency world,” says Bielby. “Because of that we can offer answers to our clients that are kind of across the board.”

Here Be Monsters operates across many disciplines, offering services that include advertising, branding and digital and social media strategy. It has already done work for clients including Lululemon, BC Lions, project management software company Function Point and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Currently, it is helping launch a campaign for SnapQuote Insurance, a digital auto insurance product in Ontario, and working with real estate developer Wesgroup in Vancouver.

The shop’s name plays on the 16th-century map-making tradition of marking unexplored areas of the world with the words “Here Be Monsters,” and is a nod to their willingness to help brands navigate through “uncharted waters.” At times, the trio will embed themselves into their client’s in-house marketing teams, having already done so with Lululemon and BC Lions.