FORWARD Is Back: Fergus Kibble Returns to Lead the PR Agency He Founded, Announces Partnership with Two Palms Media

Why It Matters

The alliance merges traditional PR with real‑time social execution, giving brands a faster, unified communications engine in a market hungry for integrated, data‑rich campaigns.

Key Takeaways

• Fergus Kibble reacquires FORWARD brand after GrowthOps collapse
• FORWARD partners with Two Palms Media to merge PR and social
• Integrated services include AI visibility, influencer management, and experiential activation
• Co-location in Darlinghurst enables rapid, real‑time campaign execution
• Clients gain unified earned and social strategy from day one

Pulse Analysis

The Australian consumer‑communications market has seen rapid consolidation, most recently with GrowthOps’ 2023 acquisition of FORWARD and its subsequent 2025 collapse. Founder Fergus Kibble, who built FORWARD into a marquee agency for brands such as Dove and Kit Kat, has now bought back the brand and its intellectual property. By resurrecting FORWARD after a year‑long hiatus, Kibble signals confidence in the agency’s legacy DNA while positioning it to address the evolving demands of 2026 PR practice. The move also restores a familiar name to a sector that lost several boutique players in the past twelve months.

The strategic alliance with Two Palms Media reflects a broader industry shift toward seamless earned‑media and social‑first execution. Two Palms, a social‑centric creative shop founded by Ed Ringwood, brings real‑time content production, influencer networks, and data‑driven community management to the table. Together, the combined entity offers a single‑point solution covering AI‑enhanced visibility, reputation management, and experiential activation—all under one roof in Darlinghurst, Sydney. This integration eliminates the traditional hand‑off between PR and social teams, allowing brands to react instantly when a story gains traction online.

For clients, the partnership promises faster go‑to‑market cycles and more cohesive brand narratives. By aligning creative earned ideas with social amplification from day one, campaigns can achieve higher engagement rates and better ROI, especially in categories where influencer credibility drives purchase decisions. Competitors that maintain siloed structures may struggle to match the velocity and measurement depth offered by the FORWARD‑Two Palms model. As advertisers allocate larger portions of budgets to integrated communications, the new agency is well‑placed to capture a growing share of Australia’s $2 billion consumer‑PR spend.