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Jasmine Hansen and Chris Jovanov.<\/p>\nIndependent creative agency ATime&Place has launched DEEP, a new Digital Experience & Entertainment Practice designed to help brands build always-on, interactive digital worlds that extend beyond traditional campaign thinking.<\/p>\n
The new practice expands the agency into brand-owned entertainment, end-to-end digital product development, customer experience design and gaming, bringing together product, creative and technology capabilities across native apps, e-commerce, loyalty programs and community ecosystems.<\/p>\n
It comes as Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences \u2013 expected to command more than $12 trillion in global spending power by 2030 \u2013 increasingly favour interactive digital environments over traditional campaign-led marketing.<\/p>\n
Speaking to B&T, Hansen and Lawson said DEEP is designed to close what they describe as \u201ca widening gap between ideation and realisation\u201d, with a focus on building environments audiences can actively participate in, rather than passively consume.<\/p>\n
DEEP will be led by Hansen and Lawson, with creative director Chris Jovanov \u2013 who joined the agency six months ago from AKQA, R\/GA, Leo Burnett and Clemenger BBDO \u2013 also working across the practice.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Hansen and Chris Jovanov.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dumb Ways to Die<\/p>\n
What began as a simple rail safety message in 2012 for Metro Trains Melbourne quickly became one of the most successful public service campaigns ever created.<\/p>\n
Instead of fear-based messaging, Dumb Ways to Die leaned into humour, music and colourful animation \u2014 turning a serious message into something audiences actually wanted to watch, and share.<\/p>\n
The campaign\u2019s now-iconic characters met absurd, exaggerated ends before landing its core point: many real-world train accidents come down to small, avoidable mistakes.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t stay a campaign for long.<\/p>\n
The film became a global cultural moment, and in 2013 evolved into a mobile game that invited audiences to actively participate \u2014 not just watch \u2014 by trying to save the same characters from danger.<\/p>\n
From there, it expanded into merchandise, spin-offs and ongoing digital experiences, becoming a sustained entertainment ecosystem rather than a one-off execution.<\/p>\n
For DEEP, that evolution isn\u2019t just a success story, it\u2019s also the blueprint.<\/p>\n
Hansen said the campaign proved how value compounds when ideas are built as platforms, not moments.<\/p>\n
At its peak, she said, Dumb Ways to Die generated $10 million in additional revenue outside of ticket sales, alongside more than 7 billion game sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts to work out real different return on investment models when you start to look at inhabiting these worlds and having your own platforms and products,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lawson said its longevity is what makes it significant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a really good example, because it just shows a train safety campaign created a world that still lives on,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s people still playing the games.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fight against the \u2018blandscape\u2019<\/p>\n
DEEP launches into what its founders see as a rapidly shifting creative landscape \u2014 one where AI is fuelling an explosion of content, but also a creeping sameness.<\/p>\n
Lawson warned that efficiency may be coming at the cost of originality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the rise of AI\u2026 content is cheaper to generate than ever,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the big fear is we will enter a world of a blandscape for brands \u2014 a monotonous mush.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer, he argues, isn\u2019t more content \u2014 it\u2019s better worlds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see ourselves as the world building business,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cThose worlds will be given depth through digital experiences that provide real utility and real entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building worlds people return to<\/p>\n
At its core, DEEP is about shifting brands away from short-term bursts of attention and toward always-on ecosystems.<\/p>\n
That means playable experiences, branded games, loyalty and community platforms, e-commerce environments and interactive digital products \u2014 all designed to evolve over time.<\/p>\n
Rather than treating digital as a channel for campaigns, DEEP positions it as the foundation for continuous engagement, where ideas grow and adapt based on how audiences interact with them.<\/p>\n
Hansen said that shift requires a rethink of how success is measured.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re changing KPIs to things like dwell time, share rate and K-factor \u2013 which is virality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It also changes how ideas are developed in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just come up with the idea,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cWe\u2019ll do the commercial forecasting on what that idea could bring, and what the 12-month roadmap actually looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
A world \u2018people actually want to live inside\u2019<\/p>\n
The launch comes as gaming platforms and interactive environments continue to reshape how audiences engage with brands \u2014 particularly younger consumers who expect participation, not interruption.<\/p>\n
Lawson is careful not to overstate the ambition, positioning DEEP as a formalisation of where the best work is already heading.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be that audacious that we\u2019re going to say this is going to redefine digital marketing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is what the best of digital marketing and brand experience are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The real shift, he suggests, is structural.<\/p>\n
DEEP aims to scale that thinking into a dedicated practice \u2014 one that treats entertainment, gaming and interaction not as extensions of campaigns, but as the core of modern brand building.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is no longer just \u2018what\u2019s the campaign?\u2019\u201d Lawson said. \u201cIt\u2019s what world are we building that people actually want to live inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
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