Three former VML department heads have teamed up with an Accenture Song AI specialist to launch Tango & Cache, a new agency-meets-platform built around a proprietary creative operating system.
The OS, called Cache, is designed to streamline the agency workflow by using AI to take on tasks such as strategy iterations and process-heavy work, freeing creative teams to focus on craft and ideas.
The founders, strategist Tom Page, creative director David Weythman, creative technologist Chris Turner, and AI engineer Patrick Rabier – bring experience from global roles across Sydney, New York, London, Dubai and Hong Kong. Their careers include work for Nike, Google, Wendy’s, Chanel and a U.S. presidential campaign.
“The ad industry doesn’t need another agency,” Page said. “It needs a way to rapidly evolve without losing the human touch that makes work great.”
“Traditional agencies using AI to speed up the same old process is the classic Henry-Fordian ‘faster horse’ problem”, Rabier said.
“Cache allows us to reconsider the conventional agency workflow without the usual constraints of the traditional linear system. We’re focused on modeling useful patterns that make the work better, not just pushing out faster output.”
“It’s what most of the big holding companies are trying to figure out right now,” co-founder and Creative Technology Director Rhys Turner added, “but because we don’t have the revenue to protect, or shareholders to appease, we can do it with more agility and transparency.”
Tango & Cache is producing campaign-ready work for select clients, with plans to eventually put Cache in the hands of in-house and agency creative teams.
The team are currently working with select early-stage clients to refine the model in real time.
“We’re inviting a few early partners behind the curtain to help shape a smarter, more efficient way to build great brands while skipping the usual agency overhead costs,” Page said. “If you’ve got a real brief and want to try working a little differently, we’d love to chat.”
The model aims to strike a balance between “instinct and iteration,” blending human creativity with AI-driven efficiency.