Manifesto

We are policy influencers, data gatherers and change makers.


This makes us powerful advisers to creative agencies and comms teams. We advise management teams on how to seize market opportunities, navigate complexity, manage risk and market volatility and achieve ethical and sustainable growth through:

●  Organisational purpose and effective stakeholder engagement

●  Differentiated business strategies

●  Improved operational processes

●  Digital transformation, innovation, DE&I and ESG

●  A focus on reputation and strategic public relations

Wherever your organisation is in its lifecycle, we work with your management team to define goals and guiding principles, ensure strong governance, optimise performance and build growth, reputation and trust.

Here’s what we believe - and our commitment to you.

Change is the only constant

The changes in communications are the ongoing story of our careers. The last 20 years have seen a massive shift in marketing, media and public relations, from print to digital, and the move to fragmented and social forms of media. It’s daunting but also incredibly exciting and a huge opportunity for internal and external organisational communication.

We can help you predict and plan for change, listen to market signals and exploit opportunities with an eye to the future. We can also help you create a shared vision so your team is inspired to stay with you on your journey.

Sustainability and growth

In the post Brexit and pandemic economy there is no new normal. Culture, commerce and society are in a state of flux. What does that mean for your business, and how will it adapt?

Your first goal as a leader must be to make your organisation sustainable; second, to examine your proposition to ensure it is fit for purpose. Third, you need to know how you’ll drive recovery and growth against the backdrop of a recession. Your response will require a focus not only on financial metrics but also the environment and society.

How your business adds value to stakeholders is key and we can help you refine this. We’ll also help you learn at a faster rate than your competitors, giving you a sustainable competitive advantage.

Working better and smarter

Technology promises to help us become more efficient and smarter at what we do but the human element is frequently ignored. Analytics, data, measurement tools and planning frameworks have huge promise.

We can help organisations reengineer workflow and crucially engage teams as part of a learning and development effort. We can also help tool vendors sell into new markets.

Hard work and difficult jobs

Sometimes you need to pull together a team of grown-ups to get a job done. That might be a tricky piece of business development, a refinancing or reorganisation, an emergency crisis response, or a thorny multi-stakeholder challenge.

Please consider adding us to your team if you’re facing a difficult challenge. We’re driven by hard work and the satisfaction of a tough job well done.

Listening and engagement: don’t post shit on the internet

Digital communications removed the constraints of word count and deadline from the media. It’s led to a decline in creativity and content. That’s a bad thing. Organisations for their part have failed to learn that the internet is a conversation. Excellent marketing or public relations should start with identifying and listening to an audience or public. Campaigns should be based on a creative idea rooted in insight, and content that inspires a conversation.

We can help you revisit your purpose and engage with stakeholders meaningfully. If challenging Board dynamics are an issue, we can provide independent, unbiased guidance to defuse conflicts and achieve suitable outcomes.

Teaching and development

Continuous professional development should be the norm in fast moving markets such as marketing, media and public relations. It is shameful that it isn’t.

We'll help you and your team build a competency framework aligned to your proposition and objectives, and then hold you accountable to ongoing learning and development.

Step up as a leader

Strong, authentic leadership has never been more needed to help organisations build trust with employees, customers, prospects and other stakeholders. It requires high levels of intellectual firepower and emotional intelligence. It can be a lonely and challenging role.

We support and mentor executives, encouraging them to be accountable to their own values in their leadership role. We also offer a Free to Thrive service for busy agency owners (especially parents) dealing with overwhelm.

Representing the communities that we serve

Communication and agency teams should reflect the audiences that they seek to serve. The best way to achieve this is to ensure a balance of diversity that is representative of society and includes people from all backgrounds. Organisations need to invest in diverse recruitment and retention. The COVID-19 crisis removed the shackles of 9 to 5 and office working, proving that flexible working doesn’t compromise quality or productivity and improves employee trust and loyalty.

Our work looking at the future of the industry and through Socially Mobile means we are well placed to advise and also access a pipeline of talent – practitioners as ambitious and hungry as us to do great work for great people in the creative industry space.