South West performance marketing agency, Launch, has been named the best paid media agency in the UK at the national Agency Awards.
Launch was recognised as the Best PPC Agency and won Best Campaign for its work to drive global revenue for an ISO provider based in the UK.
The UK Agency Awards took place in London at the end of September. The awards celebrate large and small agencies working across all verticals, from creativity and design to digital and technology, from marketing and advertising to public relations and media.
In the last year, Launch has grown dramatically, with thirteen new recruits to the team and over fifteen industry awards achieved for its work driving online revenue for its clients. Its own revenue this year has grown by over 50%, a new office in Exeter has been opened and the Bristol office expanded to accommodate its burgeoning team.
The judges praised Launch for its focus on their people. “Launch is clearly a happy agency with great team morale. It is an agency that cares about the human element first and has big ambitions which they are delivering on in return on investment for their clients.”
Jaye Cowle, Founder of Launch was delighted with the awards; “Our mission is to be the happiest performance agency. I believe that happy people do great work, and by empowering our team to do their best, we can get great results for our clients. So, I am absolutely thrilled that as we enter the final quarter of the year the whole team is recognised for their hard work.”
ENDS
6 Oct 2022
Pictures:
L-R, Host Tori Campbell, Jaye and sales director, Steph Iles, accept the Best PPC Agency in the UK Award.
The Launch team.
About Launch
Launch is the paid media agency for ambitious businesses. We provide online advertising, data insight and conversion optimisation services to clients, helping them take their digital marketing to the next level with fresh thinking and a transparent, strategic approach.
We’re a Google Partner and Verified Amazon Advertising partner, and have been recognised as a Top 10 UK Digital Agency for 2022 by The Drum.
Visit us at https://www.launchonline.co.uk/
Five new recruits, including Business Director and Media Director, join UM, McCann Bristol’s media operation
UM Bristol, part of McCann Bristol is strengthening its media operation with the appointment of five new team members, including a Business Director and Media Director, following a successful first half of the year for the agency.
The media team form part of the overall integrated creative services offer at McCann Bristol and provide media buying consultancy and delivery across all channels.
Georgia Vine-Thomas joins the team as Business Director, bringing with her a wealth of experience working in planning and managing media buying for a number of leading global network agencies across clients in entertainment, automotive, banking, tech, retail and travel. Her experience includes working with blue-chip brands such as P&O Cruises, Netflix, HSBC and Paramount.
Meanwhile, Aled Schell joins as Media Director, bringing over ten years’ experience working at independent media agencies and media owners.
In addition, the agency also welcomes Grace Perrett as Senior Media Manager, Beth Cooper as Media Executive and Shabrina Hidayat as Digital Media Executive.
Managing Director at McCann Bristol, Andy Reid, said: “The Bristol media operation has achieved great things so far this year and these new appointments are a reflection of the success and growth we are seeing in the business right now. It’s great to welcome five new members who will strengthen the Bristol team and drive even more success in the future.”
Georgia Vine-Thomas added: “I’m really excited to have joined Bristol’s media operation. It’s a brilliant opportunity to be a part of a growing media team which is producing excellent work for its clients, whilst evolving with a number of new joiners. Together, there is huge enthusiasm for what’s ahead!”
Having a strong organisational structure in place is key to growing your digital agency.
Whether your agency is brand new or has 100 employees, the structure of the team is going to have a direct impact on your overall efficiency, culture, client satisfaction, and scalability. Without a considered organisational structure in place, many agencies suffer from poor communication and frustrated team members and clients.
So, what are your options when it comes to structuring or restructuring your agency? How do you know which structure is going to guarantee both employee and customer satisfaction and give you the permission to scale your marketing agency?
Get more brilliant advice from Janusz at the 12-month Mastermind group for agency leaders. Gain momentum, resolve and focus to achieve your goals, with the support, accountability and insight of GYDA experts and like-minded peers. Find out more.
1-Flat
A flat team structure is common in smaller agencies and start-ups. Flat structures have only a couple levels, if any at all, between management and employees. These organisations tend to require employees to ‘wear many hats’ and as such, often produce a lot of generalists but no specialists.
2-Functional
Then we have functional structures — in which teams are organised by services. For example, a digital agency with a functional structure could have a Social Team, an Email Team and a PPC Team, and so on.
A functional structure concentrates the expertise and knowledge within those services or groups. As such, this structure often falls down when the client requires more than one service from the agency, forcing disjointed communication between the executives in each team.
As the agency grows, communication and coordination between these teams is only more and more convoluted and scaling becomes very clunky and difficult.
3-Matrix
A matrix structure is similar to a functional one, with added levels of management and communication weaved into the mix, hence matrix.
This structure involves side-ways communication between team members, like account managers who coordinate other functions. Like the functional structure, the matrix is limited to a team of a certain size, as this web of communication is difficult to scale.
4-Holacracy
Holacracy organisational structure is where there are no clearly assigned roles. Employees are given the flexibility to take on any duty or role and move between teams freely. A holacracy can work well within some industries, but broadly speaking, this structure is a poor fit for all digital agencies as having expertise and specialism within your personnel is essential.
5-Pods
A pod organisational structure is where an agency arranges their teams by client type or sector, rather than the agency function or service.
This creates specialist teams, which function similarly to sports teams. For example, each ‘Pod’ would have a PPC expert, an SEO specialist, and a Social Media manager and this pod would service a particular category or type of clients, such as Automotive Clients or the Legal Sector.
Watch: A detailed look at Functional Structures Vs Pods (4min)
Utilisng a pod structure allows you to lean into your niche and achieve a deeper level of industry or sector specialism from each pod.
Pod structures also have no dependencies on other teams within the agency, thus there is no web of complex internal communication. This creates friction-free workflows within your teams and an enriched experience for your clients at the other end.
Finally, a pod structure creates accountability and responsibility among your team members. As employees are being regularly challenged by exciting projects within their specialism, they are likely to have increased job satisfaction levels.
At Digital Agency Coach, we advocate running weekly or bi-weekly workshops for all specialist executives, hosted by a technical lead. Keep the agency focused on strategy, process improvement and professional development and create a conversation the other experts from each pod.
Regularly hosting these casual, friendly and engaging workshops with employees of the same skill set promotes an easy and productive conversation with relevant learning and take-homes for each employee.
There’s no denying restructuring your digital agency can be a disruptive process in the early days and it probably won’t happen overnight. But once the hard groundwork is done, growing and scaling your agency can simply be a matter of copy and pasting a new pod.
This team structure eliminates the complex web of communication just as effectively as if you have a team of 30 or a team of 300 people.
If you are a full-service agency and your clients are purchasing multiple products or services from you, perhaps it’s time to reconsider your organisational structure.
Watch Our Quick Functional Structures vs Pods Explainer Video (4min)
If you feel you’d like any help or guidance with restructuring your agency, get in touch with Digital Agency Coach to arrange a consultation, we’d be delighted to help.
Get more brilliant advice from Janusz at the 12-month Mastermind group for agency leaders. Gain momentum, resolve and focus to achieve your goals, with the support, accountability and insight of GYDA experts and like-minded peers. Find out more.
Over the past decade I have painstakingly built a remote dev team. It took me from being a cash- and time-poor freelancer to owning something I can respectably call a web development agency.
But the process is far from straightforward, there are many pitfalls for the uninitiated, so I’ve put together this checklist for hiring remote devs.
Of course, if you’d rather not build your own dev team, you can always use ours! Our contact details are below.
This sounds obvious but the first time I did this I made the mistake of just shortlisting loads of candidates without being highly specific about what I was looking for. Whatever criteria are on your list, make sure these items are too:
1️⃣ Reliability. Obvs!
2️⃣ Communication skills. It doesn’t matter how good someone is – if they can’t communicate well with you, your team, and your clients, then it isn’t going to work.
3️⃣ Adequate equipment to do the job properly. A good enough computer, connection, work room etc. etc.. Figure it out in advance.
Tell people in your first contact with them how you plan to conduct the hiring process.
Respect their time – you’re likely to annoy good candidates if you forget that they’re busy people just like you.
The relationships you form should be mutually beneficial & respectful.
So do not allow the availability of plentiful skilled foreign labour at low rates (by your standards) give you a power trip: this leads to the worst kind of neo-colonial attitudes & will make you a terrible employer.
Interviews can tell you whether or not a person can communicate, and MAYBE whether they’re going to be fun to work with.
But for determining skills and abilities, they’re useless.
So set them an arthurian challenge. If they can successfully complete x then they get the job. Make it fun.
But … DO NOT be tempted to let candidates loose on client work (even if you’re paying them). For all you know they might wreck something, possibly your reputation.
Dan Norris (author of The 7 Day Startup and the man who launched WPCurve in a week: a very inspiring guy) talked about creating a dummy website similar to his clients’ sites and having candidates log in and perform various tasks on that as an aptitude test.
Even after 1) checking someone can communicate and 2) putting them somehow to the test, you still don’t know very much about this person.
There is still a good chance that they’re not the right fit. And there is a chance (very small) that they might be actively dishonest.
Tread carefully, especially at first, and protect yourself. Use your common sense. I would suggest not sharing client contact info or server/service passwords.
If you are transitioning from a 1 person company to a 2 person company then for the first time you’ll have to think about “culture”. It’s down to you to create one! How you behave towards your team not only creates the atmosphere in which you must (all) exist during your working days, it permeates your client relationships and your supplier relationships as well.
This is your legacy. Consider it.
Your relationship with a remote worker needs to be built up gradually, but this process takes place over strange, de-humanising platforms like video, text chat and project management software.
You are aiming for a situation – and this won’t happen overnight – where you can trust each other with money, client contacts, server credentials etc., and where you know that you can depend on each other when the pressure is on.
This cuts both ways.
In the early days a big risk is that your new worker will ghost you.
This is rude and annoying but sometimes people find it easier to just vanish (and lose their job) than to ask difficult questions or admit that they don’t know how to do something.
You can mitigate this risk by being super-approachable yourself and by fostering a culture where people are open and safe to expose their vulnerabilities.
This takes bravery and hard work – emotional work.
It will pay off in lasting relationships and decent behaviour all round.
In all relationships, but especially in trans-continental, electronic ones, you’re only as good as your word. So if you lost that, that you’ve lost everything.
Don’t make excuses.
Pay on time.
There have been times when the rest of my life has been collapsing around my ears and I’ve had to sell investments at the bottom of the market in order to keep to my word, but I did it and so must you.
This is about self-interest sure, but it’s also about not being an asshole.
As someone’s boss your scope for making someone’s life undyingly miserable is pretty much as high as it’s ever been (kind of like being a parent).
Don’t forget that and don’t abuse your power.
Decide in advance – so you can answer questions – how you’ll handle practical issues such as
👉 Hours. Do you care, or will it be results oriented?
👉 Public holidays. Obviously they’re different in different countries.
But to avoid misunderstandings your employment contract (did I mention that? you’ll need one, even if you don’t “need” one, then you need one) should stipulate exactly which days are to be worked and which not.
👉 Sick leave. It’s a thing.
👉 Annual leave.
👉 Payment frequency (I suggest weekly for the trial period to build mutual trust then monthly or twice a month to keep transaction costs down)
👉 Payment method. I’ve used worldremit.com (not affiliated). This works great but once on a work trip to Hong Kong I found out (on pay day) that it didn’t work from there. I had to trek across rush hour HK at the last minute to find a remittance centre which would take my money. This was the closest I’ve come to missing pay day & not a nice moment.
A good motto (for lots of things) is “Don’t a dick to your future self”. Document everything you learn. You don’t know when you’ll need it.
But don’t make the mistake of over-systematising or systematising too early. Figure out the best way to onboard new hires manually, and simply make notes. When the time comes that your hires are making hires, these notes will come in very handy.
In conclusion – don’t be an asshole. But you knew that.
That’s it from me. Thanks for reading!
If you need to get some development work done and would like to skip the time, expense and risk of building your own team, use ours! Ugli is a multi-disciplined web and software dev team with all the skills you need to get your projects out the door, on time and at very competitive rates. Get in touch any time on [email protected].
– Flourish becomes Harbour Collective’s dedicated CRM specialist agency
– With a heritage in direct marketing, Flourish has helped brands like Samsung, Twitch, Coca-Cola and Nissan to revolutionise their approach to customer communications
LONDON, 5th September 2022 – Brand communication consultancy Harbour has today announced the addition of CRM agency Flourish to Harbour Collective, its collective of 12 specialist independent agencies and 500+ experts.
Flourish will now become the collective’s dedicated CRM specialist agency.
Headquartered in Bristol and with teams in London and Dubai, Flourish was founded in 2004. With a heritage in direct marketing, the CRM specialist agency has helped brands like Samsung, Twitch, Coca-Cola, Nissan and Crisis to revolutionise their approach to customer communications.
Harbour Collective’s group of independent agencies work together on multiple shared clients to combine skillsets across data and insight, media, content creation, engagement, experience, and delivery.
Ian Reeves, Managing Director, Flourish, said: “We’re genuinely delighted to join Harbour Collective as the group’s CRM specialist agency. Traditionally Flourish and our client partners have been brave and ambitious, and we believe joining Harbour Collective is a reflection of this. As part of a collective we can extend our offering of genuine sector expertise, stand apart from network and integrated agencies and open up a world of further complementary possibilities.
“Meeting with the Harbour team, it was immediately obvious that we speak the same language, prioritising the impactful and the pragmatic. We know our clients will instantly be able to benefit from being part of the wider group and we look forward to supporting existing Harbour Collective clients in enhancing their CRM strategies, capabilities and programmes.”
Paul Hammersley, Managing Partner, Harbour, added: “The understanding and management of customer journeys and experience are key parts of today’s marketing plans, so it’s essential that we have this capability at the heart of our offering. Flourish are one of the best independent agencies in this space, with an impressive leadership team, a strong client base and an excellent skillset across strategy, creative and media, making them the ideal CRM partner for Harbour Collective.”
About Harbour
Harbour is an independent brand communication consultancy that sits at the heart of a collective of specialist agencies. It was launched in 2017 by Paul Hammersley (Managing Partner) who was joined by Mick Mahoney (Creative Partner) and Kev Chesters (Strategy Partner) in 2019. Its unique structure and client offering are designed as a contemporary alternative to the large legacy agency groups. Clients include McCarthy Stone, Tilney Smith & Williamson, The Athletic, BT, Match.com, Fitbit and John Lewis.
https://harbour.london
About Flourish
Flourish is a specialist CRM Agency, focused on the development and delivery of data-driven and creative communications and content in the B2C, B2B, B2G and NFP sectors. Based in Bristol, UK, the business opened its doors in March 2004. Since then, Flourish has extended its footprint with teams in both London and Dubai to support regional economic growth and a Global client portfolio.
With a heritage in Direct Marketing, Flourish has sector-leading CRM expertise, focusing on driving action at every stage in the Customer Journey, whilst acknowledging individual customers’ needs and circumstances. Flourish has helped brands like Samsung, Twitch, Coca-Cola, Nissan and Crisis revolutionise their approach to customer communications and, in-turn, maximise lifetime value through a blend of data, technical and activation solutions across a range of audiences, channels and touchpoints.
If you’d like to discuss how Flourish could help your business maximise the value of your customer audience then reach out to Ian Reeves via email on [email protected]
We are delighted to launch a major new report which highlights how creative businesses in Bristol and the south west region need more support than ever before to help them to compete on the global stage.
The ‘Creative Force’ study follows our commissioning of The Audience Agency to conduct research of Bristol Creative Industries members and the wider creative sector to understand how creative businesses in the region are faring and to determine the level of support they want and need as the industry continues to recover from the impact of COVID-19.
The report shows that:
– Accessing talent with the right skillsets is the biggest challenge facing more than a third (36%) of creative businesses in the south west.
– Increasing diversity and inclusion is a significant priority for six in 10 (59%) creative firms, but 21% admit that they are struggling to recruit talent from diverse backgrounds. Nearly half (48%) of creative businesses want more help finding diverse talent from under-represented groups.
– Most creative firms have embraced digital ways of working but research and development (R&D) spending throughout the region is low with 62% admitting to spending nothing on R&D. The take up of new, breakthrough technologies such as AI, 3D printing, and robotics is also minimal.
– Securing the funding needed to grow and develop is an issue for Bristol’s creatives. The variety of business support programmes and financial grants available is creating confusion with many of the region’s businesses unsure about what it is relevant to them and whether they are eligible.
Focus group surveys with local creative businesses and freelancers found that while there is no shortage of programmes and grants available to encourage innovation and business growth in Bristol and the wider area, the multiplicity of options can be overwhelming and there is a need for more help navigating the support available.
Chris Thurling, chair of Bristol Creative Industries, said:
“The creative industry is an engine for driving economic growth and job creation throughout our region. After an incredibly challenging two years, creative businesses are bouncing back and the future looks bright, but our latest research shows that creative firms and freelancers need more targeted support than ever before to really scale up and take advantage of emerging growth opportunities in the wake of the pandemic.
“Bristol has long been considered a great place for businesses – after all, it is vibrant, dynamic, thriving, and multicultural – but our research shows that location is no longer considered the be all and end all for creatives. For them, place is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. It begs the question ‘has Bristol been resting on its laurels?’
“As we grapple with getting growth plans back on track at a time of economic and political uncertainty, there is no time for complacency. We all need to do more to support our creative and cultural businesses by working in partnership with city and combined local authorities, education providers and other business support organisations to ensure we create an environment where creative firms and freelancers can thrive.”
The UK creative sector is a vital part of the UK economy which contributed £115.9bn to UK GDP before the pandemic[i]. It is now expected to grow 20% faster than the rest of the economy and has the potential to create 300,000 new jobs over the next three years, stimulating growth and recovery throughout the UK.
Responding to the Creative Force report, West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris said:
“This report is timely and welcome. Bristol, Bath and the wider West of England is rich with creative talented people, but the pandemic hit many working in the sector hard.
“It’s why under my leadership as Metro Mayor of the West of England Authority we have invested £3m to help over 700 freelancers – abandoned by the government during the pandemic – and creative businesses get back on their feet and face the future with a renewed confidence and purpose. I welcome the recommendations in this timely report.
“The West of England is a region of innovation and creativity, and I’m determined that the right support is in place to allow our region to flourish.”
BCI’s Creative Force report includes a comprehensive set of key recommendations for tackling the issues brought to light by the research findings and is intended to be used as a catalyst, convenor, and advocate for change and action to fuel the south west creative sector’s development and growth.
Businesses across the UK are facing soaring costs. Dan Martin asked Bristol Creative Industries members how they are coping, their advice for other creative companies and what the government should do to help.
Jason Smith, managing director, Fiasco Design:
“As a small business we feel more vulnerable to these turbulent economic times. We’ve experienced a rise in studio rental costs and overheads, whilst simultaneously seeing cashflow become more volatile compared to previous years. We made the decision to increase salaries across our whole team (and rightly so), but it means we have to be mindful of operating with increased costs and the implications that come with them.
“We’re using the opportunity to get our house in order; looking at previous and current spending habits to make smart savings where possible. It’s also worth putting time aside to research what financial help is out there, for example South Bristol Enterprise Support offers some great schemes. Having support like that could be a vital lifeline for some.
“Much like the height of the pandemic, we’re trying to help keep the creativity community alive, offering comfort and support where we can to other businesses. Not to mention, of course, our own team who are going through this in their own way.
“Some ideas on what the government should do to help:
A reduction in business rates could be a good idea, and reconsidering business improvement district schemes.
Introduce the option to defer a single VAT payment if needed which would help take pressure off potential cash flow issues.
Look into ways SMEs could be supported with reducing corporation tax, National Insurance payments or offering help with employment assistance programmes.
Offer corporation tax relief for companies that can prove they’ve increased (all) employee salaries by a minimum of 5-10%.”
See Fiasco Design’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Sarah Woodhouse, director, Ambitious:
“We are carefully monitoring rising costs. We are still very much in growth mode so it’s a balance. To ensure prudent financial governance we’ve labelled our planned expenses for the year as ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’. We’ve pushed any big spend into the second half of the year so we can see how the year plays out.
“In terms of advice, forecast your expenses and have a system to avoid any surprises. Have a contingency fund in place for unforeseen costs. Avoiding all spend is impossible, sometimes you do have to speculate to accumulate and if the spend helps you win new business or grow a profitable area of the business then it’s an investment in the future of your business.
“Don’t stop communicating, marketing, and investing in PR. Use this opportunity to get ahead of the competition and gain share of voice (and in time, market share). Use the time to build traction in services and sectors that are bucking market trends and performing well.”
See Ambitious’ Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Piers Tincknell, co-founder, Atomic Smash:
“Rising costs are affecting us across the board, from rent to salaries and beyond. It means that more than ever we need to be on top of our numbers and measuring productivity internally.
“In digital, it’s a very difficult balance offering competitive prices to clients whilst also paying ever rising industry standard salaries. We look to compensate our team in more ways than just salaries, through health insurance, access to coaching, 35 hour weeks instead of 37.5 which is usually standard, learning and development budgets, volunteering days and more.
“The government could really help businesses by subsidising business rates, stepping in and capping rent increases from landlords, capping energy costs and topping up National Insurance contributions for businesses.”
See Atomic Smash’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Paul Honey, managing director, Strange:
“To help our staff we have a work from home bonus scheme. We started it during lockdown and it has always been a great benefit to have, but this year we decided to integrate it with our B-Corp impact assessment. Through an auditable process, we have documented the estimated electrical, gas and water usage for each staff member. We then use this data and current utility tariff data to calculate utility costs and CO2 emissions at an employee level. We then pay each staff member a quarterly work from home bonus and at the same time offset their CO2 emissions.
“Our people are prioritised over profit, so we’re always looking for ways that we can help. Whilst staff officially benefit from a hybrid work set up, we only gather physically if it really makes sense as commuting and working in an office can be expensive. A flexi-time system allows people to work the hours that best suit their circumstances and can help reduce costs such as childcare.
“There are other things that have helped to. For example, we’ve made sure everyone has good up to date technology at home which is much more energy efficient, and we’ve made sure the quarterly work from home bonus not only helps fund utility bills, but also helps contribute to other costs.
“I think the government could do a lot to help SMEs. Of course, they could look at measures like temporary cuts in the VAT repayable to HMRC (a little like they did to support tourism and hospitality during COVID) to help the industry, but really their primary focus should be ensuring energy markets function properly, avoid an energy market failure at all costs and get control of inflation.”
See Strange’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Jessica Morgan, founder, Carnsight Communications:
“Rising costs are very much on my radar – we’re talking about them at work, we’re seeing them in practice and we’re wondering how much we can absorb for how long. Unfortunately, the government seem largely absent from conversations around what can be done to help – particularly for those who are most squeezed.
“As a small business owner, I’m focusing on ensuring I can keep in annual payrises in light of unprecedented inflation rises and also trying to help the team in small ways that are affordable and sustainable. The pandemic has definitely changed the way I look at my business finances and what to invest in (and not).”
See Carnsight Communication’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Claire Ladkin, founder, All About the Cooks:
“It’s the uncertainty, the air of doom, gloom and despondency and not knowing where we stand which makes things most difficult. Optimism is what an early stage start up thrives on.
“Having just raised investment we are planning for growth – recruiting and investing in our people and processes. Obviously we want to reap the benefit of that landing in buoyant times. Should we soldier on regardless? Instinct tells me yes, although we should be prepared to be dynamic and pro-active.
“Times of change can work both ways. We suspect that more home-cooks will want to supplement household income by monetising their talents. We can really help them do that and that feels very satisfying. And maybe the ‘hunkering down’ mindset will make people more inclined to socialise at home, which might also benefit us.”
See All About the Cooks’ Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Janusz Stabik, managing partner, GDYA:
“We’re seeing agencies doing recession planning. Pre-pandemic, a lot of creative businesses carried on working until the s**t hit the fan, and then they were forced to make a change. Now they’ve been through the pandemic and they had to make changes really quickly. They had to cut costs, they had to go through the P&L and they potentially had to pivot the brand and the proposition of the business really quickly just to survive.
“Then they saw that they were sat on a successful business and now with all the news in the media about a recession they’re ahead of the curve.
“Many of them are preparing and thinking what should we do when a recession hits? How should we pivot the business? What can we do with our costs? What can we do with our pricing? Which industries are going to be hard hit if there is a recession? Which industries are going to flourish?
“Our advice is to workshop it with everybody in the team. Where are the risks within the business? Where are the risks in terms of the marketing, delivery and costs?
“Equally, where’s the opportunity? There is an opportunity with recession. A lot of agencies pivoted into e-commerce during the pandemic because everybody was stuck at home buying stuff.
“Have a one page plan for what you’re going to do. Execute it with the confidence that you did when you implemented the changes during the pandemic that made your business thrive during that downturn.”
See Janusz Stabik’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Joanna Xenofontos, founder, JX Branding:
“I’m not able to take on an office due to the high cost of rent and bills. As a self-employed individual and having just moved to Bristol. I find it hard to meet other creatives and it’s impossible to launch my business in a physical manner to help me build a team. It means I have to outsource to other creatives, often in other parts of the world where they charge less. This makes it challenging to grow a business.
“To deal with the challenges, I’m using co-working spaces some of the time. This allows me to be around other creatives and cuts the cost of offices and meeting rooms.
“Another way is working on contracts rather than freelance projects. This way I work with a team, the contract jobs pay well and I don’t have to do all the admin. I’m still self employed but with fewer management tasks.
“This does have disadvantages though; less flexibility and because I usually work in confidence, I’m not able to share the work for more exposure and to attract new clients.
“I think the government should provide more funding to start-ups in the creative industry. A solution could be that the government builds office spaces that are available to be shared and rented from creative agencies or individuals. Rather than renting directly from an independent party, the government provides the space so the rent and bills are lower.
“The government should better embrace creatives who want to launch their own business in the UK. This can be beneficial for the government as they are making less through freelancers (taxes etc) than companies that have a team.
“That’s the reason that many of us stay in freelancing. It’s very hard to have a sustainable business due to high costs.”
See Joanna Xenofontos’ Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Simon Winter, founder, Winter Design:
“We’ve well and truly adopted “better than hybrid” working. Our team all work from home all of the time (part of our updated climate strategy) and it works so well for us. We now don’t have the burden of rising office space costs and because none of us have to commute, we’re not being hit as hard by rising fuel costs.
“Healthy cashflow is so important in times like these. A cashflow forecast helps you to plan for potential bumps in the road; when we first did one of these it was like somebody had switched a light on, such helpful visibility. It might not work for all businesses, but for us working from home 100% of the time has been a total game changer.”
See Winter Design’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
Simon Lodge, founder, Ubuntu Studio:
“Like most business owners, my company is driven by rudimental economics: bring in equal (preferably more) money than goes out. Naturally, there’s always a push-pull effect going on, however over the years, costs have risen in places I believe to be positive—from wages reflecting respect for people, to equitable taxation based on success.
“The crux of today’s issues, however, lies in the areas that have long been ill-managed by governments and businesses alike: energy, real-estate, and the treatment of suppliers, to name but a few. Until we address these head-on, we will remain in a perpetual state of ‘crisis’.
“This is a complex topic because it goes to the heart of one of the biggest issues facing businesses and consumers alike: we’ve created a society expectant that things will cost less than they’re worth to produce.
“We see it across industries—from agriculture (where I can buy meat cheaper than a cup of coffee) to energy (where until recently, the true cost of burning fossil fuels was paid for by our planet rather than our wallets). Until we address the systemic issues that past governments have simply papered over, this won’t be the last cost of living crisis we face.”
See Ubuntu Studio’s Bristol Creative Industries profile here.
If you’re a Bristol Creative Industries member and you’d like to add a comment on the cost of doing business, email Dan.
Watch A day in the life of – Heather Myatt, Senior Account Manager at P+S 2022 video here.
These are exciting times here at P+S Creative. We’re winning new business, taking on bigger and more complex projects with long-time clients, and continuing to expand our offering to meet today’s marketing challenges. In short – we’re keeping ourselves very busy!
And because of that, we’re looking for talented Account Managers to join our growing Client Services team.
What does an Account Manager do you ask? Well, I’m here to give you a complete run down on the role. I’m a Senior Account Manager working across a range of clients, including Panasonic Connect Europe, one of Proctor + Stevenson’s largest and longest running clients.
An Account Manager’s role is to be the voice of our clients within P+S, working across all teams to deliver high-quality work that stays true to the brief, meets all deadlines and stays within budget.
“…we’re organised, great communicators and problem-solvers…”
We also develop strong partnerships with our clients. We understand their business, their products and their goals and advise on new strategies, methods and programmes that will help their teams reach their objectives.
We’re organised, great communicators and problem-solvers – and we aren’t afraid to take on a challenge. And it’s that self-starter attitude that really helps us as we navigate our role and keep all our plates spinning.
The types of work we manage varies depending on our individual clients. In a typical week on Panasonic Connect Europe, we’ll research, build, and manage awareness and lead generation campaigns across a range of channels, work with the creative and technology teams to design and build webpages, create print and video collateral, and develop brand strategy for the organisation.
“…it’s that variety in work, scope and complexity that I find really rewarding…”
As an Account Manager, you’ll be in constant contact with your clients through weekly calls and emails, with new projects coming in daily. You’ll build out each project from your client’s brief and properly cost each phase, and then you’ll bring in the right people to get each project finished. Some projects last 3 days, some will last months, and it’s that variety in work, scope, and complexity that I find really rewarding.
And while we tend to manage our own projects, you’re never alone. The team is so supportive and always on hand to help you through the project management, spreadsheets and emails of your day-to-day. We’re surrounded by a very talented and experienced team at P+S and there’s always someone whose brain you can pick to help make your projects more successful.
It’s not all work over here – we also have a lot of fun! Weekly quizzes, Friday drinks, monthly pop-up lunches and various groups, sporting challenges and parties make Proctors a pretty awesome place to be.
As an Account Manager with P+S, you’ll be challenged, given the freedom to run with your ideas and the support you need to develop in your career. You’ll work on some incredible projects with clients who are making the world a better place. So, if you’re starting to think that a lot of what I’ve said sounds pretty good to you, go ahead and apply! And if you’ve got any questions before you do, please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d be happy to help in any way I can.
Think you could be our new Account Manager? Check out the full job description and send your CV and cover letter to [email protected]
As we reach 13 years in business this summer, Loom Digital is celebrating its best ever half-year financial performance. Our Bristol-based digital agency has scooped 11 new clients in the past six months, including LITELOK – the brand behind the world’s lightest bike locks; fuel storage solutions company, Western Global; and summer school provider, Summer Boarding Courses (part of Dukes Education).
Loom has recently received an impressive score of 9/10 from clients in The Drum Recommends international agency rating scheme and has delivered a total ROAS of 735% with over £5m in sales for their eCommerce clients 2022 to date. Later this year, we will be supporting all clients with the adoption of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as Universal Analytics is sunsetted on 1 July 2023.
“New clients have joined us because of our proven track record and our brilliant team, who are dedicated, experienced and talented. Client success and a strong, trusted team go hand-in-hand. Although we’re growing, we’re also incredibly proud of our staff retention, with 50% of the team being with us for over five years,” comments Nikki Ellison, founder of Loom.
Loom has upweighted our PPC and biddable offering in 2022 with the appointment of Dan Waller, boosted SEO expertise with Marco Morelli and Jack McGivern joining, and are currently recruiting for future digital talent. Although operating a flat structure, Loom is also committed to welcoming and nurturing talented people who are new to digital.
With increased competition in the industry, areas such as client experience and employee culture are increasingly the things that set agencies apart.
Here at Loom we’ve relaunched our employee benefits, introducing a more flexible approach to these by offering a wide range of monthly benefits the team can choose from. Each employee can decide between health and dental cover; gym membership, yoga classes; monthly massages; Audible or Headspace subscriptions.
All 16 team members are also offered professional coaching via MoreHappi, the one-to-one online workplace coaching company. All benefit from peer-to-peer support, including being given a budget to buy up to four gifts a year (sourced from local, independent shops) to say thank you to colleagues that have gone above and beyond.
“We are committed to providing a healthy, happy and progressive workplace, with our office as a hub but also welcoming a hybrid approach, depending on each team member’s circumstances. We’re 100% transparent and our new [perks package] and ongoing coaching also means everyone can find their purpose and grow in all aspects of their lives,” adds Vicky Hockley, People & Growth at Loom.
For full benefits, please visit Loom’s careers page here.
GYDA is thrilled to announce its repositioning as a Mastermind-centred business. The relaunch which happened in June 2022, sees GYDA increase its focus from being a business consultancy who helped agency leaders through traditional consultancy methods, to one that focuses on peer-to-peer Mastermind groups for agencies leaders all over the world.
The relaunch was the culmination of a six month project initiated by the managing partners Robert Craven and Janusz Stabik.
Robert said:
‘Our experience of running Mastermind programs spans back over seven years and includes the renowned Google Elevator program. It made sense to pivot the business to focus on the tools that work for agency leaders. We continue to support our clients with additional 1-2-1 coaching and growth centered consulting.’
The project included an in-depth strategy phase where GYDA collaborated with their growth experts and agency clients. Followed by a rebrand project with TinyBrand.
Janusz said:
‘We were so excited to work with Jemma at Tiny Brand again. Helping us to solidify and refine our brand strategy, they went on to create a new visual identity and collateral for GYDA. We are over the moon with the results. Our beautiful new brand fits perfectly with our audience and confirms GYDA’s position as market leader for mastermind programs.’
Visit GYDA.co to learn more about GYDA Mastermind
Visit Tiny Brand