40 years ago, the great CBA adventure began. Born from the passion of two creative minds, the agency was founded in 1982. The beginning of a beautiful story, above all human. The years went by and, through encounters and risk-taking, CBA built itself up without ever losing sight of its soul of passionate creatives.
It all started in 1982, with a passion for the beautiful and the good, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to create. A real gamble, which quickly turned into success.Many talents joined the adventure, and so did many brands. Projects are flooding in, small and large brands like Malabar, Croustibat and Orange Tang, call on the agency for its intensive creativity.
The 90’s are punctuated with ups and downs but what would be a great adventure without it? It is also the lows, which train and shape us, and which allow us to see the good side of things. The least we can say is that the mood was great. A friendly, festive and family environment: in short, a beautiful family of young passionate people. At the time, CBA was the perfect expression of the philosophy of its founder, Louis Collinet: pleasure and work. Because yes, let’s not forget it. Even though there was all this festive aspect, CBA’s teams were working hard!
CBA evolves and expands its scope to include new expertises other than packaging, which was its main activity at the time. Time flies, and the 2000s are marked by the internationalization of the agency.Between Milano and Barcelona, the premises of CBA’s international network came to life. Very quickly, CBA made its way out of Europe and further abroad, even settling in the United States.
“Sky is the limit” had become the new motto.
And the least we can say is that CBA had taken it literally. With its iconic emblem, the famous “Zeppelin” or also called “Blimp”, the journey never ends. The agency sets up its bags all over the world, and takes it over alongside its historical and local clients.
The CBA network is the perfect representation of all the audacity of its president, Louis Collinet. The most French of the French, who succeeded in setting up 13 subsidiaries through willingness, determination, audacity, and a taste for risk-taking in business.
Above all and for 40 years now, CBA has been on a wonderful human adventure. A story of people and passion, where the human being is the heart, the central point. This is surely what has made CBA a reference on the French design market, along with its creative soul and its love for design.
Through design, CBA has been able to give meaning to brands, offering them an opening and a field of possibilities to help them achieve their goals. The agency has been through many years, lived a lot of changes. The evolution of our society, of brands, of design… However, it has always known how to adapt and evolve. Always questioning itself, taking risks, stimulating creativity, to be able to offer refined, qualitative creations with a precise vision.
CBA has always been an agency of challengers, of entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur means taking something that has low value and bringing it to high value by taking risks. It doesn’t always work, the road is long and full of pitfalls, but the adventure is wonderful. And that’s what CBA is. An agency like no other, which does not fit into the mold and which surprises many.
This is the personality of CBA: we are not always in the rules, we respect the strict minimum, we walk on the road when we are told to walk on the sidewalk. And when the road becomes too dangerous, we accept to walk on the sidewalk but only on the edge, one foot on it, one foot on the road. That’s CBA. A free agency.
Today, our society has evolved. Companies as well as the design world have to adapt and change with it. That’ s why we can ask ourselves: what is the role of a design agency in 2022?
For CBA, the future of the agency is still and undeniably linked to design. Today, CBA wants to become a partner to brands, supporting them in their strategies from the beginning and responding to all their challenges. A kind of consultant with a collective mind, who would gather all design expertises around the brand in order to give it meaning and utility. As well as more points of view on how to solve business problems, through and thanks to design.
The future will also be highly international. A strength that CBA has thanks to its network and its offices around the world.
This cosmopolitan melting pot, the agency intends to exploit it more and more in the future, and create a unity. A unity that would allow each one to keep its local specificities, while keeping in mind a global vision of CBA.
Since its beginning, CBA has never stopped innovating. It’s part of its DNA. And that’s what the agency intends to do for many more beautiful years. Here’s to 40 years and beyond!
