Reflections on 2024: A tough one, but a year of change and opportunity
Article by Nick Farrar, Founder and CEO, Shaped By
I spend time at the end of each year writing an ‘It’s a wrap’ piece for the Shaped By team. This year, Alex Waite ✎ , our marketing director, suggested that I write a version for a wider audience. I’m not sure who that audience would be, but I guess if you’re in the creative sector, or trying to break into the creative sector or fancy understanding a little more about our agency and our world, then it could be of interest.
So a very quick intro – I’m Nick, CEO of Shaped By, a UK-based creative agency operating predominantly in the B2B tech sector and these are some of my thoughts on the last year and the year(s) ahead.
BTW, these are my thoughts and not based on any scholarly knowledge – I’d be interested to hear what you think.
I’ve heard this quite a lot over the last few months, and it’s really bugging me.
I’m a firm believer that negativity is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Expect the worst, and the chances are you’ll get the worst.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand this has been a super tough year for a lot of people – it’s not been plain sailing for us by any stretch.
But, we should be used to operating in difficult times – the opening words of my ‘It’s a wrap’ 2022 were, “Let’s be honest, running an agency in a stable economic environment seems like a long and distant memory.” And that hasn’t changed since.
Since starting Workbrands (our previous agency that relaunched as Shaped By in 2021) we’ve gone through a lot:
All very tough times in their own way, but as a sector we’ve always adapted and come through. We’re in the business of solving problems. We face troubles head on. Adapt our approach, change the way we do things, we’ve innovated and, most importantly, been positive.
Why does Survive until 2025 bother me so much? Firstly, it seems to suggest there’s a magic ingredient that will be added to the mix in 2025, making it more promising than 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024.
But, nobody’s offering an inkling about what that magic ingredient is. Without sound advice or knowledge this misplaced optimism or ‘Hopium’ isn’t helping anyone.
Secondly, it also feels like people are throwing the towel in – a ready-made excuse for not succeeding. As I say, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We need to provide more support and encouragement, focus on the problems, and find solutions to help us all succeed.
Setting yourself up for success now is no different to how it’s always been – as my good friend Andy Brown says, it’s a constant focus on balancing the three things that make an agency work:
On the surface our business is pretty simple – but getting each of these right, all the time, is a real challenge.
New business is always a hot topic at agency gatherings, and for good reason. Maintaining a strong pipeline isn’t just difficult – it’s existential. But, there’s a tendency among agency owners to lose sight of something fundamental: we’re (most of the time) operating in the B2B sector, and that requires a certain mindset shift.
Why does this matter? Too many of us are treating new business like a quick-win sales game. The reality is that it’s a long-term, relationship-driven process. As with any B2B transaction, prospects don’t just stumble into your agency ready to sign a six-figure project. They need to see you, hear from you, and trust you long before you even know they exist.
There are two things I feel us agencies need to get better at:
Investing in consistent brand-building. It’s not just about great case studies or a killer creds deck. Prospective clients need to know what your agency stands for, what makes you unique, and why they should choose you—even before they have an RFP in hand.
Playing the long game. B2B buying cycles are complex, involve multiple decision-makers, and often take months (if not years). The seeds you plant today might not bear fruit until H2 2025 or beyond. That’s why your new business efforts need to be steady, intentional, and built on trust.
It’s ironic that agencies preach the value of branding and strategic marketing to their clients but often fail to apply these same principles to themselves. Agencies aren’t exempt from the realities of B2B marketing—we’re part of it.
One thing that Alex Waite said to me when he joined the Shaped By team was that we needed to build our ‘reputation through repetition’ and I refer to that a lot. You need to define your positioning and messaging and then nail your colours to the mast. Bang the drum in front of the right people at the right time and, as long as you have something people want to buy, you’ll see results.
We launched Shaped By as a new agency in 2021 – a new name, a new proposition and a new audience. At that time, I made a choice that we would have to invest significantly in our new business function – investing in experienced, full-time marketing and new business people to build the brand. Three years on and we’re enjoying the fruits of our labour.
It was seen as a bit of a risk and a lot of our peers didn’t agree with the approach. But our return on marketing investment (ROMI) has gone from washing its face in the first year of the new agency to 6+:1 this year – still room for improvement, but it’s going in the right direction and, for me, justifies the intent and ambition we have in our approach for driving new business.
Keeping our promises & happy clients
I’m often counting my lucky stars that we’re in the creative sector. I feel there’s a romanticism from people on the outside looking in that it’s a great space to work in. And on the whole, that’s true. We spend a lot of time solving people’s problems through creative thinking and amazing design—a privilege that’s not lost on me. On the whole, it’s usually a great experience.
We’re fully aware that everyone client-side (and subsequently agency-side) seems to be under increasing amounts of pressure – facing challenges on a daily basis – budget constraints, changing goals, tighter timelines, ever evolving briefs and priorities.
These challenges are a fact of working life, they happen. And when they do there are two approaches to take. And one works a lot better than the other.
First, there’s the outdated, old school ‘client and supplier’ mindset which sometimes rears its ugly head. The relationship becomes transactional: “I’m the client and here’s what’s gonna happen”. It’s a rigid, non-collaborative approach.
Then there’s the better, logical way – where clients and agencies collaborate. We understand the realities of the situation and work with each other to find the best possible solution. It’s not about compromise; it’s about being realistic and mature, seeing challenges for what they are, and tackling them together.
Agency client relationships work better when they go from supplier to partner. It’s something that can take time to nurture, and it has to be a two way thing. Without it, you can’t push boundaries or explore new ideas, or think of paths less trodden.
If people aren’t receptive to opening up to each other then the chances of success when the pressure is really on are slim.
There’s a huge amount to say about how to make the most of your client agency relationship and it’s something we’re very passionate about.
The subject ‘Getting the most out of your creative agency’ has been covered in our podcast series ‘The Changemakers’ and as a panel session at our two day event ‘Bring your own Bold’. You can take a look at both of them here:
Changemakers
In this episode of our podcast series, Wei Kee – our client services director – chats with Dave Corlett – our business director – about her experiences of getting the most out of your agency. Listen on:
Bring your own Bold (BYOB)
In this session of our two day event, Wei and creative director Tom Ovens were in conversation with Maria McLaughlin, Senior Director, Global Brand + Creative at Abnormal Security and Ben Long, Creative Director at Rubrik, as together they explored what makes a strong client/agency relationship.
The panel discussed the value of true collaboration, along with some of the common challenges that arise early in these relationships and how to navigate them.
You can watch the whole episode on our Youtube channel here.
A subtle change in direction?
‘Brand is back’ is a term bandied about in the B2B sector over the last year or so – it’s certainly something we’re seeing evidence of from talking with clients, the opportunities we’re getting, insight from our own research and thought leadership and also evidence from wider resources.
It’s definitely there. More conversations about positioning, messaging and visual identity, less short-term thinking about lead or demand gen campaigns.
Is this a disillusionment in the market with the effectiveness of lead generation? Is it a realisation that many, many firms are swimming in a sea of sameness. Is it a greater understanding of buyer behaviour? Or changes with buyer behaviour – more focussed on personal reasons for choosing vendors rather than solely focussing on business needs?
Inevitably, it’s a combination of all these and more. But, it’s the reason we love the challenge of working with B2B brands and helping them engage with their audiences.
As an aside, on that note that firms are swimming in a sea of sameness, here’s an interesting stat for you (taken from the Dentsu ‘Superpowers Index 2024).
There’s a massive gap between buyer perception and marketers:
There’s a lot of work to be done to shrink these margins.
I have to write about AI – it was either AI or the Jaguar rebrand.
I love AI, AI is great and we’re only scratching the surface of what we can do with it and how it can help. We’re on a journey at Shaped By to adopt it into the agency. Innovation with integrity is what we’re calling the process. The impact is, and will continue to be, incredible.
But, there are areas where it just isn’t doing it for me, I fear it’s going to get worse, and it’s having an impact on us all. It happens when people are lazy. Relying too much on the technology as an end-to-end solution. Not caring about the output and the damage it can do to a brand – whether that’s a company brand or a personal brand.
Here are a couple of negative impacts I’m noticing. Not so long ago, you could still get results with well-researched, well written, well-timed and well-intended comms. We used to do some great personalised campaigns that bore good results. But not now. The volume of AI-written and AI-automated sales messages has made it a LOT harder to get in touch with people. We’re always looking for new ideas and approaches to get in touch with our audience. Some are working, some not so much but the issues of landing your message are real. And that’s a problem, but the challenge of doing things differently also represents an opportunity to differentiate.
Another issue for me is the sheer volume of AI generated drivel masquerading as content. Your social feeds will be full of it, you can (usually) spot it a mile away – it’s a list, it’s a LinkedIn carousel, it’s formatted in that certain way ChatGPT does. It’s generic, ill-targeted and very, very boring.
Buyers are crying out for thought leadership, they crave reading and listening to content from subject expert matters. This is another area for brands to stand out – brands that can demonstrate genuine expertise and deliver it in ways that are memorable, easy to understand, easy to share and hyper-relevant for the audience have a real opportunity to steal a march on their competition.
Finally, are we starting to see some briefs come in about using AI purely as a cost-saving measure? It’s a question worth asking, especially when authenticity and emotional connection are central to the work we do. Using AI strategically can unlock incredible potential, but relying on it solely to trim costs – especially in creative work – risks undermining the very elements that make a campaign effective.
Don’t get me wrong – AI has its place. We’ve seen it deliver exceptional results in specific contexts when it’s the right tool for the job. But creativity is about impact, not just efficiency. If AI is being used with integrity, to enhance ideas or streamline production, it’s a fantastic asset. But if the primary goal is cutting corners, it runs the real risk of falling short.
Thank you for reading this ramble, I hope you found some of it of interest – it would be great if you could leave any thoughts, comments or questions below.
Have a great end of year and Christmas!
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