Ian Gambier, former ECD of Fabric Social, Boomerang London and Meta Quest, has launched Lukewarm, a new social-first creative studio in London, built to help brands on social reawaken the algorithm.

Launching with a tech startup as its founding client, still under wraps for now, Lukewarm was created for brands that know the old social playbook is broken, but don’t want another bloated agency model trying to fix it. Founder, Gambier, becomes its CCO.

In a nutshell, Lukewarm helps brands on social be less mid.

The name was inspired by a Brian Wilson quote, “Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick it once and you’ll suck forever.” For Gambier, that quote sums up the state of brands on social today.

“Honestly, it feels like 90% of brands and social agencies have had a huge lick of the lollipop,” Gambier stated. “Big brands are still treating TikTok and Reels like corporate newsletters in disguise, then wondering why they’re stuck in 1k view jail with tumbleweed in the comments.”

Lukewarm is built around a simple belief – all brands are now entertainment brands. But while social media has displaced TV advertising as the main stage for attention, too many brands are still operating with old-world processes, campaign-first thinking and content that looks like it was made by committee.

The studio’s answer is a team of social misfits who can mobilise to create best-in-class social content in 24 hours, giving brands the speed, taste and platform fluency needed to operate in the new algorithmic reality.

Gambier added, “The brands winning on social aren’t posting about World Chocolate Day. They’re thinking entertainment-first, moving fast, and making things real people actually want to watch. The antithesis of mid.”

Gambier brings a proven track record in building social-first creative teams and work for major brands. Most recently, he was ECD at Fabric Social, where he was a key player in the success of Currys, Subway, Vodafone and Sky, winning eight major pitches back-to-back in 2025.

Before that, he co-founded and scaled Boomerang London, part of Publicis, as ECD in 2023, leading a cross-agency social pod for EE. He also served as EMEA creative director at Meta Reality Labs, leading social and creators for Meta Quest.

Across his career, Gambier has won Cannes Lions, Clio, Drum, BIMA, Lovies, WARC, Dadi and Kinsale Sharks awards for work including #FeelingNuts for Check One Two, I Wish I Could Wear for Amazon Fashion, and Brawl Stars Global Launch for Supercell.

Lukewarm launched on May 5 2026.