So I went up to The Storey in Lancaster, a labyrinthine and fascinating venue ran by an equally fascinating Chief Executive with more connections than a Meccano Ferris wheel set and a business CV that wouldn’t flatter a Dragon’s Den panelist, with some nervousness but no real expectations. That nervousness was soon dissipated by a friendly compere – Byron Evans of Wallop Video who must be just as comfortable in front of a camera as behind one, a quick pint of Peroni and some fat comfy leather couches which set a relaxed and homely tone. Although this is reduced somewhat when you look up to see a lecture theatre with rows of faces looking back at you.
The debate soon found itself sidetracked by what exactly constituted a ‘big’ agency these days although the panel was well placed to consider this with a fairly representative spread – ourselves with a dozen people, Wash Design with 5 or 6, Juice Digital again 6 but part of Tangerine PR which is in the mid 20s and Red C Marketing at 42. Perhaps predictably it was the PR guy, Steve Downes,, who proposed that it wasn’t numbers of people or revenues but ‘fame’ that mattered. Rather trickily, this is unquantifiable, although the success of the likes of ‘Love Creative’ has clearly built a reputation leading to work from some big brands. Such examples also reinforce my assertion that it’s all about doing a good job.
Unquestionably size has been less and less of a determining factor which is evident in all the small agencies working on big brands, although capacity must have some bearing. Over the last 20 years or so, the best regional agencies such as The Chase in Manchester and Attik in Leeds, have broken London’s stranglehold on the industry through the excellence of their work setting a new precedent for big corporates to source creative work outside London.
Personally, I believe technology has also played a massive role to assist this and in two ways; firstly as a communications enabler – you don’t need to be next door to your clients with email, electronic documents and innovations like video conferencing and Skype. For example we’re currently working on a project for HP’s Ericsson account in Sweden, the final stages of which have seen alts made in real time in Indesign on our machines, viewed in their virtual conference suite. Secondly, very the nature of the job includes ever increasing digital media involving new skills and technologies. It’s often been smaller agencies that have reacted faster to learn and adopt the skills to deliver these emerging media – web, mobile, apps, viral – and so, when companies have needed these skills, they’ve had to work with smaller agencies either directly or through partnerships. Then, assuming they’ve delivered, credibility is built and any wariness dispelled. This, in turn, leads to more work for them and opportunities for other specialists of any size. At least that’s our experience.
