LONDON--Two self-described “digital veterans” from Hill & Knowlton are launching a social media consultancy aimed at helping clients build in-house capability in the area.

Sociagility is headed by Tony Burgess-Webb and Niall Cook, who both departed H&K this year. Former global CMO Burgess-Webb left the agency in April, after a 25-year stint that included a decade as global digital head.

Cook, who was H&K’s worldwide director for marketing technology, departed the firm more recently.

“Brands can only achieve sustainable cost-effective competitive advantage by building their own in-house capabilities – the people, systems and content they need to engage with social media,” said Burgess-Webb. “Once we’ve helped them do this, we won’t hang around racking up fees – we’ll leave.”

Cook added that the “traditional agency model does not focus enough on helping clients build their own authentic capability and this needs to change.”