Hi Pete, what do you do at Prophecy Unlimited?
Prophecy Unlimited is a customer journey agency, launched in May 2017. We brought together two great South West agencies, EMO Unlimited, renowned for customer acquisition, and The Real Adventure Unlimited, experts in customer relationship management. We realised that we could combine the complementary skill sets and people together, the result being Prophecy Unlimited. That ultimately means we work across every channel in the mix, and for some clients we work end-to-end across the whole journey.
Customer journeys are rapidly changing in terms of technology and consumer behaviours, so we work with our clients to create a successful and impactful customer experience.
More specifically, my role as CEO involves two key jobs: one is making sure the Prophecy team are happy, and then making sure that clients are happy, too. The two are incredibly interrelated, happy team, happy clients, and vice versa!
Who’s in the team?
Everyone from client services, project management, creative content, data and insight, tech, HR… the list goes on. I’m responsible for making sure we have key team leads ensuring we all work to the best of our abilities. No one department is more important than another, it’s a real team effort.
What are you most proud of as a business?
The client list that we have for a South West agency – I’m so proud of it. We have several clients who have been with us for over 30 years, some large blue-chip brands and global players.
I’m ex London, and we tend to have this chip on our shoulders about London, thinking it’s the big be all and end all. But I actually think the work coming out of Bristol is as good, if not better, than the London players. Bristol has such an energy and creativity.
What’s your favourite office gadget?
Big Red – our coffee machine! It’s got to be at least 10 years old. Probably as long as we’ve been Bristol Media members it’s been trucking along, supplying us with coffee. As part of our induction for new starters we have a stint with the coffee machine. Not quite barista training, but it’s a proper machine so not just a press and go.
Whose work do you admire and why?
This is a tricky question, because I think about the campaigns I like at the moment and actually, I wouldn’t pin it on one particular agency or brand. I’ve never known a time for the agency world to be quite as challenging, in terms of the changes and the dreaded B-word. Any agency that’s making their client feel confident enough in them to buy work is absolutely doing great. Hats off to all!
What’s the biggest challenge your industry/organisation is facing at the moment?
I can think of two, clearly economic uncertainty is one of those, but also data. The scandal around Cambridge Analytica made consumers wary about their information and what’s being used and where. Not only that, but with more data available, we need to make sure we don’t just disappear into big systems like Adobe or Salesforce. It’s something we’ve been focussing on at Prophecy recently; transparency in the customer journey, not just getting the system to tell us the answers but making sure we’re sensitive to human emotion and using old school planning skills.
If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?
Get involved, put your hand up, get stuck in and remember that your voice matters. Great ideas can come from anywhere, any team and any person. Don’t be afraid to speak up! And seek out a mentor if you can.
What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?
On Friday mornings I religiously make a breakfast run to Hart’s Bakery. The guys know to leave a small window in the diary so I can get my sourdough, or sausage rolls, or cheese toasties… There’s too much to choose from!
If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?
First up, real. As a city, we don’t pretend to be anything different. We’re proud of our differences. Then vibrant and innovative.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
That’s a really good question, because we’ve always got new things in the pipeline, and those vary by client. Probably the most exciting thing is our new customer journey methodology, it’s a model for getting to the heart of what’s working in a customer journey and what’s not.
We’re working it through now and we’ve got some clients using it. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up a bit thinking of the difference it’s going to make. We’ll be sharing it soon so watch this space!
To see latest examples of Prophecy’s work, visit the website.
Fancy joining the Prophecy Unlimited team? They’re on the lookout for new hires, find out more about the roles available here.
If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series and profile your business, get in touch.
Our Content Apprentice Izzy headed over to Bath for this month’s Featured Member to talk with Sue Bush, Creative Director at Touchpoint Design, and find out more about what they’re up to. Here’s what we learned…
Hi Sue, tell us what you do?
We are a brand design agency, we design brand identities, primarily for arts and culture and not for profit clients. We work across all touchpoints, which is where we got our name. The touchpoints are: digital, printed materials and large-format visuals. Ensuring a consistent brand identity across all applications.
Who are your team?
There are 3 of us in the production team, myself (creative director), Georgia (designer) and Ian (technical director). We are a small team, but we collaborate with lots of talented associates that we bring in on a project by project basis.
How long have you been a Bristol Media member?
We’ve been a Bristol Media member for 4 years I believe. We became members because I moved to the South West from London, so it was a good way to get to know everyone and join the creative community.
What’s your favourite place in Bath and Bristol?
In Bath, Solsbury Hill, it’s really invigorating up there. It’s a steep hill but a great place to clear your mind. In Bristol, probably the harbourside, a great place for people watching.
What are you most proud of as a business?
I love that we punch above our weight. We’re only small but we take on some really big briefs, size is not an issue. Our rebrand of the American Museum & Gardens was a great example of where we demonstrated what we can achieve with a complex and demanding brief.
Our favourite projects to work on are those where we get involved right from the brand discovery stage, researching, unpacking client vision and values, positioning etc. Going in deep from the start gives us insight and helps us to maximise impact and spark really effective creative solutions.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
We are working on a website with Taxi Studio for the West of England Design Forum to help women in design. There’s a big disparity between women reaching roles of seniority so it’s great to work for something we’re passionate about.
We’re also a part of a ‘mastermind’ group of 8 agency owners. We’re small giants, like the concept developed in the book Small Giants by Bo Burlingham. Based around the idea of sustainable agency growth, rather than expand for the sake of it, to make a wider positive impact beyond simply our own financial gain. So we’re excited to see where this takes us in the future!
Whose work do you admire and why?
Marina Willer from Pentagram. We love her, she’s very humble considering how successful she is, and she works in sectors we work in (charities and creative arts). Her work with Amnesty International and the Serpentine Gallery in particular. She creates clear solutions that are bold and impactful. She is a stand out influence for us.
If there’s one thing we need more of in this region, what is it?
In Bath, it would be great to see a big contemporary art centre. Bristol has Spike Island and the Arnolfini, and while Bath has great spaces, like The Edge and 44AD, it would be nice to have a permanent space that can pull in some of the bigger high-profile artists and act as a creative hub across disciplines.
If you could sum up Bristol in 3 words, what would they be?
Vibrant, refreshingly diverse and fiercely-independent.
What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?
For designers, use a notebook! Don’t go straight for the computer, sketch ideas before you start pushing pixels around, it’s so much easier and quicker. Leuchtturm notebooks are our favourite! Our greatest tip is to really listen. Ask questions, then actively listening to the answers. Prompt and facilitate those conversations to get insight.
Keen to feature your business? If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series, email Kirsty or Izzy for more information. See you in September!
Previously executive creative director and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, as well as creative lead for Google’s The Zoo, Patrick has a career spanning over 30 years, and we’re delighted to welcome him back to Bristol.
20 years ago, Seth Godin wrote “Permission Marketing”. He had such high hopes for advertising, suggesting that the digital revolution would make advertising personal and relevant and thus anticipated and welcome.
But it didn’t quite work out that way…
Not only do people dislike advertising (there are a billion ad-blockers installed on devices around the world) they dislike the advertising profession too. In the UK, advertising people often rank below politicians, which takes some doing! Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, Google and Brand Safety, the new tech giants have had a disastrous effect on how advertising is both made and seen.
BUT, despite all this, advertising can still help sell products and grow brands. It’s just that there are new rules.
About the keynote:
In this talk, Patrick Collister will apologise for the cliché (new rules) but will explain how it gives a framework for understanding the five conditions brands need to meet if they want to get through to people.
He’ll talk a bit about data, a lot about insight and he’ll mention the fact that 30% of the audience will have bought something on their mobile phones while sitting on the toilet. He’ll squeak excitedly about some of the new toys in the tech-box but pull a frown when he gets to the slide with the poo emoji. That’s when he’ll be discussing Programmatic and how it is an opportunity that creative agencies miss at their peril.
He’ll talk about ideas a lot, use the word creativity quite often, and may even try to sell you his book, “How To Use Innovation & Creativity In Business.”
Tickets & Entry
Join us and Patrick on Tuesday 17th September (12.30-14.15) at the riverside offices of Foot Anstey, 2 Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0FR.
Tickets are £40+VAT for Bristol Media members, £55+VAT for non-members and include lunch. A limited number of £10+VAT tickets will be available from 9th August to Bristol Media freelance members.
About Patrick
Patrick was the executive creative director and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, London. Then executive creative director of the EHS Brann network of direct marketing agencies. From 2013 to 2018 he was the creative lead for Google’s creative think-tank The Zoo. He has won many awards, the most prestigious being Cannes Gold in 2013 with Cheil for Samsung. In his spare time, Patrick publishes Directory magazine and resource.
Patrick will return in October to run his critically-acclaimed workshop ‘Getting the Big Idea’… find out more.
You may have been to one of Bristol Media’s monthly Vision keynote events, which exist to open your mind to new ideas and ways of creative thinking. We host a variety of world-class speakers throughout the year for our community to experience ideas and creativity from global thought leaders and visionaries.
We want to ensure our Vision keynote events are accessible to all our members, whether they’re a large agency organisation or an independent freelancer. So, we want to remind you about a new offer available exclusively to Bristol Media Member freelancers:
For many of our Vision keynotes we’ll release 10% of tickets to Bristol Media freelancers for just £10*
Our next Vision keynote is Patrick Collister with ‘Permission Denied’ on 17th September at Foot Anstey. We’ll release a limited amount of £10 tickets to Bristol Media freelance members this Friday 9th August. Head over to Eventbrite and choose Bristol Media Freelancer from the drop-down to claim your £10 ticket. We don’t expect these to last long so be quick!
*Tickets include lunch and are available on a first come, first served basis to Bristol Media freelance members only. Price excludes VAT and Eventbrite processing fee.
If you’ve not yet joined Bristol Media, take a look at the benefits of being a member and join today. We’re planning more fantastic keynote events later this year, so keep an eye out for announcements in the coming months. We hope to see you at our next Vision keynote event!
Missed the announcement first time round? Then sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop with news, exclusive member offers and more.
Built by creatives, for creatives, Gather Round have made it their mission to design and curate an exquisite co-workspace in Southville, that promotes and supports creativity and business growth through positive workspace and culture. It promises to be a space that genuinely encourages community and collaboration between like-minded creative idividuals and businesses.
Set up by Ben Steers and Jason Smith, founders of Bristol-based design studio, Fiasco Design, they came up with the concept after searching and failing to find a workspace that suited their culture and practices in the city. After two years of hard work, research and planning in an attempt to design and build a space for creatives and creative endeavours, Gather Round was born.
Their flagship 5,000 sq/ft venue is on the ground floor of the historic Cigar Factory building in Southville, just a stone’s throw from North Street and its vibrant collection of independent shops, eateries and gallery spaces. Gather Round will offer flexible working spaces (including fixed and casual desk spaces) for freelancers and individuals, alongside private studios ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, with each part of the space carefully curated to ensure a positive and stress-free working environment for all.
For Ben and Jason, it’s not just about creating a space to work, they also wanted to create a place that brings the creative community together; somewhere that encourages the sharing of skills and the development of new ideas. As a result, Gather Round has plenty of open areas for group gatherings and plans to host a regular programme of events and workshops that will be open to both members and non-members alike.
Ben says “Having run and grown a creative business for the past 9 years, we think we have a pretty good idea of what makes for a comfortable and productive workspace, as well as a culture that encourages openness and collaboration. We wanted to bake these ideas and philosophies into the DNA of the Gather Round brand and experience”.
A membership at Gather Round comes with a collection of perks designed to provide you with everything your business needs to focus on what it does best, including 24/7 access, super fast fibre optic broadband, complimentary coffee & tea and regular gatherings. And with some fantastic lunch spots right on the doorstep, you can say goodbye to your al-desko lunch breaks and hello to exclusive member discounts at local businesses.
Gather Round is now accepting membership requests. If you’re interested in joining their community, applications for their limited desk and studio spaces are now open. Visit http://gather-round.co/ to find out more about the space and to arrange a tour.
Synergy is tasked with helping Aldi engage with its 36,000 strong workforce in the UK and Ireland.
Aldi, the UK’s fastest growing supermarket, has appointed employee engagement specialists Synergy Creative as its employee engagement partner to support internal communications with its 36,000 colleagues across the UK and Ireland.
Synergy Creative brings its experience in strategic and creative communications to help Aldi’s internal communications team engage all colleagues effectively. The partnership includes support with internal communications strategy, creative campaigns and measurement.
Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi said: “We have seen a huge amount of growth in the last few years and this expansion is driven by our people, so it is more important than ever to ensure we are communicating well with all colleagues across the business.
“We were looking for an agency that could act as an extension to our internal communications team and Synergy Creative was the perfect fit. Their team’s expertise in bringing internal comms to life in creative and measurable ways made them stand out.”
Emma Holland, Client Services Director at Synergy Creative, said: “We are delighted to be working with such a fast-growing and brilliant brand. We’re all Aldi regulars, so to be collaborating so closely with the brand is an exciting opportunity for all of the team at Synergy.”
The news comes as part of a brilliant year for Synergy Creative, following a host of award wins (including eight Internal Communications and Engagement Awards), a number of new clients and several key hires into the team.
About Synergy Creative:
At Synergy, we believe in the power of people; to imagine, excite and inspire. Ambitious brands trust us to help their people take action, delight customers, transform cultures and create change.
We engage people with impact through insight-driven creative comms and experiences that connect with employees and change behaviours.
As specialists in internal comms and employee engagement, we think, write and gather some brilliant resources to help guide and inform your employee communications. For more information, visit: https://www.synergycreative.co.uk/
This is the second edition in our featured members series, where we profile our members and showcase the amazing businesses and individuals within our network. In the last edition we interviewed AMBITIOUS PR, if you haven’t seen it, give it a read here.
This month we hung out with Kerry Harrison and Richard Norton from Tiny Giant, here’s what they had to say…
Tell us about Tiny Giant, who are you?
Tiny Giant are all about moving ideas with minds and machines. They’re a studio that wants to create and create and create. They’re a house of ideas, not just a house to inhabit, but to live in and I think that’s what separates them so much…because they’re so passionate about their ideas… it’s very much about feeling like you’re a part of something larger, a part of what’s important.
Well that’s what a neural network would say, but if you asked Kerry and Norts then…
So it’s us, Kerry Harrison, Richard Norton, plus our technical director Derek Ahmedzai. Fun fact, Ahmedzai means the tribe of Ahmeds. Do you notice that the last 2 letters of his name are AI? That’s why we asked him to join our merry jamboree. We also love to collaborate – so if anyone is keen to join forces, give us a call.
What do you do?
We do quite a lot of different things, but I’d say there are 3 main things. We help our clients tell compelling stories with social media, websites and content, we’ve both been doing it for over 20 years. We’re also interested and excited by online bots and smart speakers like Alexa and Google, lately we’ve been playing around with chat bots and voice technology. Lastly, AI, we use it to supercharge our client’s creativity and make headlines with fun things like AI cocktails and cakes.
How long have you been a Bristol Media member?
We’ve both been with Bristol Media for a long time prior to Tiny Giant. Before we took the plunge and set up Tiny Giant, we both worked for other local agencies who were members of Bristol Media. It’s a long history!
What are you most proud of as a business?
In terms of what we’ve achieved so far, creating the first ever AI curator for the Cheltenham Science Festival is a huge highlight for us. It’s been really cool working with them because the person that came in as the coordinator wanted to create some noise and excitement, so she was open to everything. We’ve done some amazing things like live interview with Aida on BBC Radio Gloucester, featured in plenty of blogs, plus an animation is on the cards. It pushed us creatively because we’d never done anything like it before.
What’s your favourite office gadget?
Our Alexa, we can’t even remember a time before smart speakers. Tiny Giant even has its own Alexa skill, Tiny Giant Tales, so you can stay updated on what we’re up to.
Whose work do you admire and why?
In Bristol, we love Fiasco Design, they create beautiful work plus they do an event called Thread which always gets inspiring speakers. Outside of Bristol, a company called Lord Whitney, who create these otherworldly dreamlike sets for music videos and advertising.
What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?
[Kerry] The Watershed, I really like what they do there, plus I really love independent films and going to their cinema. A little place out of Bristol I love is the view from the top of Ashton Court, where you can look over the whole of Bristol, it’s gorgeous.
If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?
Welcoming, chilled, collaborative.
What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?
Resilience and positivity. As a start-up it’s not always easy, but it’s much better to DO the thing and think about what could go right rather than what could go wrong. You need to have a positive mindset, keep going and always look on the sunny side.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
We’ve got a few talks coming up, we’ve just finished Social Media Week and K In The Park with the BBC’s Hannah Fry. And there are lots more in the pipeline like the World of Work Conference at the Henley Business School. We’re going to build some storytelling bots, and generally doing a lot of festivals – look out for all kinds of things – bots, AR filters and lots of creative AI.
If you’re interested in collaborations (particularly if your name has an ‘AI’ in it!) get in touch with Kerry and Norts. Thanks to Tiny Giant for getting involved.
It’s just over two weeks until the next keynote event in our Vision series where we welcome Steve Chapman, artist, philosopher, TEDx speaker, and all-round supporter of the weird and wonky, to Bristol.
Steve’s entertaining talk promises to explain how to nurture what makes us uniquely weird so that it becomes our creative super power, if you haven’t got your ticket yet then book HERE. We spoke to Steve ahead of the event to find out more…
1. What can attendees at ‘You’re Beautiful Wonkiness’ expect from the event?
Some stories and conversations about what it really means to be a creative human being and the importance of weirdness (or as a minimum being just weird enough) if we want to make a difference in the world.
2. What do you hope attendees will take away from the event?
I hope that people will gain a re-kindled love for their natural born wonkiness: those unique talents, quirks, and ways of seeing the world that we consciously or unconsciously traded to fit in better and be more like everyone else. I hope people will leave with a sense of creative mischief and a bold experiment to make a difference to something that’s important to them.
3. When we first spoke with you, you mentioned that your philosophy was “screwing around with normality.” How do you live by this?
The short answer is that I’ll share some examples of this at the session! The rather longer answer is that I am constantly curious about how common sense and expertise stifles, rather than enables, change. So, when I spot stuckness I’m intrigued by how I can create an experiment that is counter-intuitive or the opposite of what is “normal” simply to see what would happen. And the important thing about an experiment is that you don’t know if it is going to work or not. So learning to live with failure and rejection is as much part of this as the joy of seeing something take-off and have a life of its own.
4. How should organisations be embracing the idea of celebrating employee weirdness?
The first thing I would say is that there is no point in doing it unless a) you are serious about it, and b) everybody brings more of themselves to the workplace, be you a work experience person or the CEO. I come across so many organisations that say “We want more creativity in the workplace” but are really saying to me “Can YOU get THEM to come up with more ideas for ME!”
This work is much more difficult than people appreciate as it requires a fundamental shift in the cultural permission to be more “mad, bad and wrong” in the workplace, to be counter-cultural in service of the change they are wanting to see. This requires loosening the grip of what is regarded as “sane, good and right” around here, just enough to promote bold experimentation, creativity and innovation. I wrote a blog a few years back that I would send to organisations that wanted to speak to me, to check how up for it they really were: https://canscorpionssmoke.com/2016/11/05/want-creativity-workplace-serious/
5. If you could only offer people one piece of advice about their approach to creativity, what would it be and why?
Be more obvious and try much, much less. Work on becoming more of what you already are rather than striving to become something you are not already. And if those around you reject you, humiliate you or shame you for doing this – find some different people to hang around with!
You’re Beautiful Wonkiness: The rise of the outsider is taking place from 12.30 – 2.15pm on Tuesday 16th July at Origin Workspace, Bristol.
Did you know The Professional Contractors Group estimates that there are 1.4 million freelancers working across industry sectors in the UK?
The South West’s freelancer economy is booming, so we’re pleased to offer this workshop with Sarah Williamson, Partner, and Jenny Marley, Associate, from Ashfords LLP.
Who’s it for?
Specifically for freelancers, self-employed individuals, and agencies/organisations who employ individuals on a temporary or contract basis, attendees will get a true understanding of the statutory employment rights involved when working as, or with, a freelancer.
About the workshop:
There are enormous benefits in employing freelancers in the creative industries. Freelancers regularly provide a flexible and diverse pool of talent, offering benefits over the traditional employment model. Similarly, it’s becoming an increasingly popular way for individuals to work enabling them to choose when and where they work.
Engaging freelancers and working as a freelancer is not without risks. Simply labelling an individual as self-employed, is not enough to remove an individual’s statutory employment rights. The status of an individual is a question of fact. Following the much publicised Deliveroo and Uber rulings and the rise in the number of individuals working as freelancers, we look at the so called ‘gig economy’ and some of the key employment law and commercial issues to take into consideration:
Tickets & Entry:
The freelancer economy workshop will take place at The Square Club from 3.00-5.00pm on Thursday 11th July. Tickets are £15+VAT for Bristol Media and Square Club members, or £25+VAT for non-members.
About Ashfords
Ashfords is a national provider of legal, professional and regulatory services. They help many different kinds of clients make the most of their opportunities, whilst effectively managing risk by providing legal advice that is not just technically sound but rooted in a wider appreciation of the real world in which we all exist. They aim to always provide straightforward, timely advice, delivered in clear and simple language.
Sarah Williamson is a Partner in the Commercial Team and Technology Sector. She handles complex technology and digital media work and has specific digital media experience in marketing and advertising, adtech, the licensing and monetisation of data and converged technology and media.
Jenny Marley is an Associate in the Employment Team. Jenny advises employers on a wide range of employment law issues including the gig economy and the impact on employees and employers.
The outsider’s time has come! In a society that is stuck in loops of common sense where we have an unhealthy attachment to expertise and logical, linear thinking, something counter-intuitive is needed. It is time for a creative revolution. One in which the outsider sits at the table alongside the experts. Where the passionately inexpert play a vital role in unsticking stuckness. All that you need to bring is your own unique and beautiful wonkiness.
Bristol Media are delighted to be joined by Steve Chapman, artist, philosopher, TEDx speaker, and all-round supporter of the weird and wonky, for this keynote on creativity and the human condition. Steve’s talk is all about nurturing what makes us uniquely weird so that it becomes our creative super power, the role of the ‘outsider’ versus the ‘expert’, and also touches on imposter syndrome, the pointlessness of labelling and the importance of counter culture.
Join us and Steve for this keynote on Tuesday 16 July (12.30-14.15) at the new event space of Origin Workspace, 40 Berkeley Square, Bristol, BS8 1HU. Tickets include a light buffet lunch and are £25+VAT for Bristol Media members, £35+VAT for non-members.
About Steve Chapman
A former Vision speaker, Steve is an artist, philosopher and writer who is interested in creativity and the human condition.
He specialises in working in creative and counter-intuitive ways to help people free themselves from stuck loops of common-sense where creativity, novelty and change are rather difficult. He is the founder of Can Scorpions Smoke? and creator of Sound of Silence, the world’s first silent podcast featuring special guests. As an artist he’s exhibited alongside the likes of David Shrigley and Pablo Picasso and has sold pieces in the UK, US, South Africa and Russia.
He is at his best when he doesn’t quite know what he is doing.
Twitter: @stevexoh
Instagram: @stevexoh