Brand strategy and product design agency Astro…

PA Consulting (PA), the global innovation and transformation consultancy that’s bringing ingenuity to life, announced today that the team from Astro Studios, an award-winning brand strategy and product design agency, has joined PA.

Astro complements PA’s global capabilities in strategy, innovation, product design and engineering and manufacturing process improvement. PA’s team helps develop world-leading innovations, such as Virgin Hyperloop's reinvention of transportation, plastic-free and home compostable Tea Sheets, and the Clinician Matching Network which improves COVID-19 patient care by matching doctors to hospitals.

Formed in 1994, Astro works with flagship clients in the consumer, technology, and healthcare sectors, including P&G, Nike, Bose, Facebook, Colgate and HP. Astro helps its clients to deliver brand communications, user-centred design as well as creating new brands, products and experiences. They have developed market defining consumer tech products, including the Nike Fuelband, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and the Astro Gaming headsets. Astro has been honoured with many accolades, including Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Design, TIME Magazine’s 2018 Best Inventions in Health & Wellness, BusinessWeek’s Design of the Decade Awards and a Best of Red Dot design award 2020.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Astro provides PA with a West Coast centre of excellence for innovation and design. The team will work in partnership with PA’s long-established Global Innovation and Technology Centre in Cambridge, UK and Essential Design in Boston (acquired by PA in 2018). In a world where strategies, technologies and innovation collide, the combination of PA, Astro and Essential Design’s capabilities will enable organisations to holistically transform the way they bring new brands, products and experiences to market.

Ken Toombs, Head of Americas at PA Consulting, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Astro Studios team to PA Consulting. The team is passionate about design driven cultures that blend innovation, technologies and lifestyle perspectives into high impact brands, products and experiences. This fits perfectly with PA Consulting’s Purpose: ‘We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future in a technology-driven world.’ As well as enhancing our US presence, the brilliant Astro team will extend our capabilities at the front-end of design, bringing our clients’ customers a world of ingenious opportunities.”

Brett Lovelady, Astro Studios’ Founder, said: “Having worked with the world’s best innovators across very diverse industries, we’re thrilled to be joining the ingenious team at PA Consulting. Its range of expertise, commitment to client success, and unique ability to deliver innovative physical and digital solutions is incredibly inspiring. Becoming part of PA allows us to magnify the power of design more comprehensively, affecting positive change for our clients and humanity, ultimately building the futures we both imagine.”

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.