FLUORO® on their new-age model for creating entire brand worlds

Tim Smith spent eight years climbing through the luxury industry before realising the aesthetic he was helping to build felt at odds with where he wanted to go. He founded FLUORO® to work with brands fixated on shaping the future, and the London-based creative agency has since built a roster spanning Apple, Adidas, Beats by Dre, Sweaty Betty and the Royal Academy of Arts. What connects this range is a single creative process that Smith applies regardless of sector, rooted in deep cultural research and a belief that brand and advertising are one living system. For R.A.D®, that meant partnering with former Head of Nike Innovation Tom Berend to build a performance footwear brand from scratch; for Apple, it meant proposing an abstract motion piece for South Asian Heritage Month that departed entirely from the original brief. In this conversation, Smith discusses what ‘new-age’ branding and advertising mean in practice, why he rejects the industry’s reliance on data as risk reduction, and how he hires for perspective rather than cultural fit. TBI: Hey Tim! How are you doing? TS: I’m all good, thank you – excited to be talking to you guys.