Bristol-based marketing agency, Seeker Digital, has been ranked 25 in the Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50 2020 and makes the top two for the South West region.
The Deloitte Fast 50 winners are recognised as being the fastest-growing technology companies in the UK. The Bristol-based agency has grown by an exceptional 1683% since it was founded four years ago and is the only agency to make the Fast 50 list this year.
Duncan Down, lead partner for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme, said: “The Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 is internationally revered as one of the most important business awards in the industry.”
“Achieving sustained revenue growth of 1683% over four years is a tremendous accomplishment. And to be second in the South West after just four years of trading makes this accolade even more exceptional.” Duncan adds.
Seeker Digital’s growth comes at a time of unprecedented turmoil, shaped by economic and political uncertainty, not to mention the challenges of a pandemic. Despite this, Seeker Digital has continued to grow as an agency thanks to its innovative use of machine learning.
Gareth Simpson, managing director of Seeker Digital says: “As with many other agencies during this current climate, we’ve seen our fair share of challenges. But our investments in tech have aided our success and survival.”
Simpson continues: “We implemented machine learning in many facets of the business to speed up our work and make it more meaningful from day one. And this is all thanks to government research and development schemes that are available to startups across the nation. The result? An operating system that’s efficient, scalable and futureproof for our business and our clients.”
Seeker Digital is keen to share its skills with the wider industry. In October 2020, the team spoke at the virtual search conference BrightonSEO, sharing their knowledge and insights with an audience of over 10,000.
Peter Hoole, Spencer Gallagher, founders of growth consultancy Cactus and Agencynomics and Stephen Knight, Founder of Pimento are lending their support to the growth of the recently formed Alliance of Independent Agencies. Each will join the Board of the Alliance alongside its Founders Clive Mishon and Graham Kemp and the Alliance’s Managing Director Matt Sullivan. Collectively the networks boast over 1000 Independent agency members and around 8000 employees across the UK.
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This Board will direct the trade body that represents and promotes independent agencies and all the people that work in the sector.
The 3 Co-Chairs of the Membership Board, that directs the 9 Peer to Peer Action Groups, will continue to drive the strategic direction for the Alliance under their respective pillars of People (Ruth Kieran as Chair), Purpose (Laurence Parkes as Chair) and Performance (Dion Myers-Lamptey as Chair).
Spencer Gallagher, Founder of Agencynomics and joint CEO of Cactus said “whilst we predominantly support the founders of Agencies, the Alliance supports agency leaders and their teams, which is why it is a natural complementary fit, many of our clients are already members of the Alliance and we hope that more members of the community will follow suit to help their agencies get the additional support they need for themselves and their wider teams.”
Peter Hoole, Founder of Agencynomics and joint CEO of Cactus added “we have already seen the tremendous value and support that the Alliance is offering to the independent agency sector and we look forward to contributing further to their great efforts to date. We will be aligning Cactus and Agencynomics to the Alliance to bring an even better experience to our fast-growing community, and provide better representation of the industry”.
Stephen Knight, Founder of Pimento added “Independent agencies have needed a louder voice and representation for some time, the ethos and values of the Alliance align perfectly with our own and complement our own Member proposition. We are confident that Pimento members will benefit from our investment in the Alliance and that collectively we can punch above our weight”
The Alliance will continue to represent the interests of the independent sector through the Advertising Association and with their membership of the Federation of Small Businesses and The Debating Group.
Graham Kemp, Founder Director of the Alliance says “The independent sector has been recognised as an essential element of the communications landscape, providing creative, innovative and agile solutions for clients big and small. Through collaboration we can give real voice to the independent agencies so it’s a joy to think that now with the collective firepower of Agencynomics and Pimento we can further promote their excellence going forward. Spencer, Pete and Stephen have already made a significant contribution to the independent agency sector and as part of that have been great supporters of the Alliance”.
About the Alliance of Independent Agencies www.allindependentagencies.org
Independent Agencies are a unique and special group of businesses and people; connected by their independent spirit, ideals and purpose, not simply their service offering. To be independent is something unique, and very important in today’s evolving creative economy. The Alliance is the trade body that represents this community and enables its agency members to be as good as they can by nurturing all their people, supporting their purpose and giving guidance to optimise their performance.
In addition to delivering benefits to the independent agencies and their teams, the Alliance is equally focused on promoting the value and unique DNA of independent communication agencies to the wider industry and business community.
About Agencynomics https://agencynomics.com
Agencynomics is a not for profit, social enterprise which started out as an international bestselling book, and has now become an organisation dedicated to supporting the now, next and future of Agencies through it’s free community, events and it’s podcast, Agencyphonics
About Pimento https://pimento.co.uk
Pimento is the UK’s leading independent agency network. Founded in 2005, it now boasts 200 agencies and consultants, covering almost every aspect of marketing services. As such, the firm is able meet the complex demands of clients by creating bespoke teams, drawn directly from its members.
About Cactus https://cact.us
Cactus is the UK’s leading Agency growth consultancy and corporate finance broker. Cactus has worked with over 1,000 agencies globally over the past 9 years many of which are recognised as some of the fastest-growing agencies in their territories. Cactus help Agencies realise their true potential and true financial value.
iO Academy is on a mission to help to address the gender imbalance in the tech industry, and give people the training they need for a career they’ll love.
Based in the South West, iO Academy is tackling this head on with a rebrand that speaks to their core values of inclusivity and accessibility. Working with Bristol-based creative agency, Fiasco Design, they’ve created a brand that reflects their ambitions of creating a more diverse and inclusive industry, bringing about meaningful change.
It’s no great secret that there is a representation gap for women in tech. More inclusive career pathways in the technology industry have been the focus of various initiatives, such as Tech Talent Charter, Code First Girls, and Tech She Can, along with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s Digital Skills Innovation Fund and the Academy’s own Diversitech Fund.
Over a quarter of women students say that they are put off a career in technology as it’s too dominated by men. (PWC)
The UK economy would benefit from an extra £2.6 billion each year if the number of women working in tech is increased.
83% of millennial British women stated that they actively seek out employers with a strong record on diversity, equality and inclusion. (PWC)
Women account for 50% of the UK working age population but only 16% of IT professionals are women. (BCS)
iO Academy is an award-winning coding bootcamp based in the South West. In 2015 it was set up by healthtech company Mayden – not initially as a business, but as a way to solve a problem. Like so many tech companies around the UK, they needed more developers to sustain their own growth. So a team of Mayden developers designed a programme that would train people with no coding experience to be industry-ready developers in just 16 weeks. Their direct tech experience led them to build a course with a new approach; one that gave students the up to date and practical skills that were needed most. A course that anyone, regardless of their gender, ethnicity or background, could come out of as the sort of developer that tech companies want to hire.
After five years in business, it was time to look at themselves and uncover the ingredients which would make them an innovative, purpose-driven brand.
The Academy reached out to Fiasco Design at the start of 2020 with a view to repositioning the company, reflecting their own growth from an idea to solve a talent shortage, to a company with an international reputation. The aim was for a fresh, future-proof identity that would appeal to a diverse range of prospective students and break down perceptions about the tech industry.
With graduates working in tech companies from Bath to Berlin, a 50:50 ratio of men and women trainers, and a strong work ethic towards diversifying the industry and creating an environment that facilitates opportunities for all, Fiasco Design and Mayden Academy embarked on a full strategic review of the current branding; assessing their DNA and defining their core values and company proposition.
Through a number of workshops conducted by Fiasco and Mayden, a new brand name was formed; iO Academy. On the one hand it’s a clear nod to coding language – IO is shorthand for input/output in computer programming. On the other it’s also the name of one of Jupiter’s moons, which seemed a good metaphor for the brand’s innovative, future-focussed outlook.
Margaret Davidson, Business Development and Marketing Manager at iO says, “Fiasco saw right to the heart of who we are as a brand and came up with a visual identity to represent us which we would never have thought of ourselves. In particular, what we wanted was to become more attractive and accessible to a wider range of people, with a core focus on diversity and inclusivity. Working as part of a new niche sector within a wider industry that often seems intimidating, this was a challenge. Fiasco came up with an approach where we now feel confident that an underpinning of inspiring inclusivity will be clear in everything we do, and help us to be part of bringing meaningful change.”
With the name and proposition came a new visual expression for the brand. The visual language is designed to reflect exploration, harnessing imagination and working towards a better future. The graphic shapes give a sense of wayfinding, collecting badges and new skills following a creative pathway. Verbally the tone is positive, ambitious and empowering, and speaks to the curious and willing.
Working with Belgium-based illustrator Soren Selleslagh, the team created a suite of illustrations to depict aspects of the student journey across the course and into their new careers. Soren’s human-centred approach evokes joy and empowerment through positive representation of all types of people. With a devoted outlook to making meaningful illustrations, this partnership gave the brand identity the visual storytelling elements that demonstrate openness and inclusivity.
Ben Steers, Creative Director at Fiasco Design says about the project: “It’s been fantastic to work with the team at iO and help them towards realising their vision of leveling the playing field within the tech industry by creating a fairer, more diverse community of developers”
Extensive economic changes provoked by COVID have resulted in the biggest challenge for a decade as more UK Agencies seek a business valuation and assistance on rebuilding value. As a result, we are offering each agency the opportunity to receive a free valuation of their business helping them to prioritise tasks to rebuild value, or raise finance and investment, or buy-out shareholders or sell their business.
No one can anticipate how long the economic conditions will remain or change further as we enter a second lockdown, so we intend to email valuation updates to each registered Agency who complete our algorithm. The effects of economic and Covid crisis are not limited to short-term view, the longer-term impact also requires agency owners to consider significant interventions to protect cash-flows and rebuild value.
So whether you’re seeking or raising finance, thinking of selling your agency or reviewing the strategic direction of your creative agency, for a limited period we are offering a free confidential valuation.
To new agencies, the process involves 3 simple steps.
First step:
To help us calculate the Agency’s value, answer a few questions for our algorithm to work through the risks and value drivers.
Second step:
Tell us a little bit about your Agency, including your email address, so we can send you a confidential agency valuation report.
Third step:
Based on the information provided, we will email valuation updates when ‘significant circumstances’ change the algorithm value multiplier.
As more agencies complete our valuation algorithm, we are able to refine and improve the accuracy of valuing UK creative businesses, which we intend to use for the benefit of our customers. If you have any questions please call me or email [email protected], or take advantage of our free www.ouragencyvalue.com/report/
This week marks Skylark Media’s 15th birthday. Although it’s a bit of a weird time to celebrate we wanted to say thanks to the fab clients, partners, colleagues and friends who’ve crossed our paths over the years. Without you we wouldn’t be here.
It feels like yesterday that Jo Haywood, fresh from making climate change documentaries for the Beeb and Discovery Channel, mustered up the courage to set up her own video production company.
Running a creative business isn’t always easy (especially in 2020!), as our peers in the creative industry will agree. Now more than ever, it’s vital to support each other and take collaboration to another level. Over Lockdown, 92% of independent agencies have either collaborated with another agency to take a brief, or are willing to. That’s fantastic news – and we hope that in our partners we’re able to fill skill gaps, deliver great client service and aid creativity where we can. We are looking to expand our network of creatives and agencies, so please get in touch if you’d like to partner at [email protected]
As we enter another Lockdown, we wanted to reassure everyone that it’s business as usual, and we’ll continue to film according to APA guidelines. If you’ve got a few minutes, we’ve launched our new website this week at www.skylarkmedia.co.uk and Jo has a few words to say herself: https://bit.ly/3kQOxkH
SAA is the world’s biggest art community, with over 38,000 active members. As well as providing quality art products, SAA offers inspiration, information and advice to its members. You can find out more about the SAA here https://www.saa.co.uk/
SAA has appointed Element78 as their digital partner to re-platform their current ecommerce website to a brand-new Umbraco and Ucommerce solution.
Mel Sallis, Group Marketing Director at SAA, said:
“We were impressed with Element78’s experience in building complex ecommerce & web solutions, as well as their comprehensive discovery methodology. They made us feel confident in their approach, and we look forward to working with them.”
Iain Rhodes, Managing Director at Element78, said:
“This is an exciting project for ourselves and SAA. We are looking forward to getting to know their world through a full discovery and redesign phase over the next month, which will then lead into a full development phase.”
With the nation back in lockdown and redundancies expected to skyrocket, virtual agency network Pimento has teamed up with leaders in the world of HR, finance and wellbeing to provide support for those who find themselves out of work.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Marketing estimates that almost 40,000 people – one in ten of the sector’s workforce – have already lost their jobs during the pandemic, with many more to come as the UK heads into lockdown 2.0.
In response, a consortium of experts – including Reality HR, Talent Spark, Premier Consultants, Wilcox Day Wealth Management, Pimento People and MHFA England ambassador and instructor Michelle Morgan – have launched a joint initiative to get people back into employment.
The ‘What Next’ programme is designed to provide specialist advice across a breadth of topics, and give those in the creative, marketing and communications sectors the skills, tools, and motivations to find a new role – or set up as a freelancer.
Starting from November 10th, the series of interactive workshops will cover a range of topics from mental health advice through to going freelance and CV writing.
“We are expecting a ‘jobs bloodbath’ in the coming months,” says Stephen Knight, founder and CEO of Pimento, and the driving force behind ‘What Next’.
“The marketing and communications industry will be amongst the hardest hit, and these seminars are designed to help those affected to get their feet back on the ground after the shock of redundancy.”
Endorsed by the Alliance of Independent Agencies and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), several other leading industry bodies are also looking to extend the reach of the programme in the coming weeks.
For more information on the scheme and how to join, visit: https://pimento.co.uk/what-next/
YoungMinds, the leading UK charity supporting the mental health needs of young people in the UK, has appointed Element78 as their digital partner to take their vision forward. The first step is to redevelop YoungMinds’ website, utilising Umbraco CMS to make the extensive content more accessible to their users.
Tom Madders, Director of Communications, Campaigns and Participation at YoungMinds, said:
“Our brief going into this project was a tough one; we were looking for an agency that had ideas, creativity, deep technical know-how, a shared passion for what we do and a proven track record of delivering value. The team at Element78 impressed us throughout the tender process, and we’re very much looking forward to working with them.”
Iain Rhodes, Managing Director at Element78, said:
“We are thrilled to announce that we will be working with YoungMinds to support the amazing work they do with teenagers, parents and professionals. The issues surrounding mental health for young people are becoming more and more pressing, so we aim to deliver real impact for such an important cause.”
Discover more about the great work that YoungMinds provides young people here https://youngminds.org.uk/about-us/
Caragh brings invaluable experience from previous roles at Huggg, Bristol 24/7 and comms agency JBP to help shape the agency’s project and strategic partnership delivery.
The appointment marks an important step in Noughts & Ones’ growth and promises an exciting future for the creative development agency.
“We are incredibly excited to have Caragh on board – her natural ability to build strong professional relationships and ultimately get shit done is going to be an absolute game changer for Noughts & Ones.” – Tom Locke, Agency Owner
As well as helping to shape project and partnership delivery Caragh, alongside the wider Noughts & Ones team, will be playing a key role in shaping the agency’s identity as they embark on a brand repositioning project that is set to launch in early 2021.
“I am delighted to join the Noughts & Ones team at such an exciting time. As the e-commerce industry continues to grow, you can expect some big moves from this little agency. Over the next few months, I’m looking forward to forming new partnerships with brands and agencies that share our vision of doing some good in the world.” – Caragh Jones, Project Manager
Keep up to date with the latest new and updates at 👉 noughtsandones.com
Check us out on Instagram 📸 @noughtsandones
Let’s be honest, in the old world (read: 2019) we all loved a day out judging awards. The chance to swan into some lovely building, hobnob with the great and good of our industry, pick up a tasty lunch, grab a new professional head shot and take a goodie bag home. Oh, and there was the business of judging of course.
Tomorrow, I’ll be judging the DMAs from the comfort of my own home. My husband may bring me a coffee, lunch will probably be tonight’s left overs, and the only goodie bag will be the kids sports kit that they’ll dump in the hall at 4pm exactly.
So take away the trappings of a fun day out, and what do you have left? The entries, pure and simple. The strategy, the creative and the results. The hard facts of the case. And since I’m judging Best Customer Retention and Loyalty Scheme, every entry will have its work cut out this year.
When those entries were submitted, many brands were haemorrhaging customers at a rate of knots (cinema, travel). Others were scooping up customers like there was no tomorrow (video streaming, home fitness). So how do we judge how good brands were at keeping customers?
For me, this is where hard customer data comes in. As I recall, when I judged this category last year, I was surprised and disappointed how many entries were still using brand affinity or other such soft metrics to measure retention. There were very few who were able (or chose) to show the volume of customers over time. This surely is the ultimate measure of an effective retention scheme – keeping your customers. I’m happy to accept context-appropriate entries (we lost X but regained Y), or entries where value and volume are balanced (we gained Y but at value Z), but I just want to see the hard facts of the matter. Prove how well you kept hold of your customers. Not what they thought of you, how you stole them from competitors, how likely they said they were to return.
This year has given us all ample opportunity for some clear strategic and creative work, so if you can prove to me (using clear thinking and hard numbers) that you’ve kept hold of your customers or won them back, despite external conditions, you’ll get my vote.
This article was written by Fiona Craig, Strategy Director at Armadillo. For more thoughts from Armadillo, visit our blog.
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