When did you launch your agency and what were your reasons for going it alone?
I launched Tempo Live back in early 2014, which seems ages ago now after such a busy year of experiential entertainment. Starting a company is a project in itself especially if you are to get your service up to the high standards expected in the industry so I knew that going it alone would be a challenge.
However, as I had always wanted to run my own business, and as I have nine years experience working within the experiential marketing and entertainment industry, I knew I would be able to develop a clear strategy on how to combine the two together to come up with a compelling proposition for clients.
They say the best way to learn is to do and that’s exactly what I did. The first project Tempo Live worked on was for a leading consumer electronics company - we produced a viral flashmob that reached 11 million views on social media. This early success confirmed for me that I had both the contacts and ideas to make it work.
Which campaigns have been your favourites to work on so far and why?
This year we have worked with some great clients including PS Live, Purity Productions, Avantgarde, Cheil UK and Kreate to name a few. My favourite campaign was brought to us by Purity at the beginning of 2014. We auditioned, choreographed and rehearsed 22 male break-dancers for a five-month UK tour to represent the soft drinks brand Zeo.
What made this campaign most enjoyable was watching the success of the dancers, known as the ‘Tingle crew’, and seeing their fans tweet about them and get more involved with the brand because of the dancers. This really showed me the importance of entertainment within experiential marketing and how creating an excitement around a brand acts as a catalyst for awareness.
How successfully did your agency trade in the first year?
At the beginning of the year I started off like most new directors: I sat in the home office (with the slippers on) working out where the first project would come from. Fortunately for me this didn’t last long and I was out of the slippers and into a pair of dance shoes alongside my choreographer as we rehearsed our team for what turned out to be the viral success on YouTube. Through this initial contract, potential clients began to get in touch and the projects started to come in.
We now have a flow of new clients coming in but more importantly clients returning to us with larger-scale concepts, which will help the business go from strength to strength.
What were the biggest challenges of the year?
I guess the cliché answer would be that setting up your own company is the biggest challenge, but it’s absolutely right. Venturing into the unknown is always a risk but it is also exciting and rewarding and that’s why we do it. I believe Richard Branson once said: "If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you’re not sure whether you can do it, say yes - then learn how to do it later".
I have found that the opportunities that have come our way turned out to be huge successes and I think that’s because, for me as the owner and creative director of Tempo Live, it is really important that everything we put our name to succeeds.
What have you got coming up in 2015?
This year is forecast to be another successful year for Tempo Live. We began the year with a fantastic nationwide experiential stunt for the launch of a new film, so we’ve certainly started as we intend to go on. We have begun to develop plans for a product launch for a well-known hair brand and we are likely to be activating a large project overseas too. To ensure that our performers are always of the highest quality we are holding auditions across the UK in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.
The most important aspect throughout 2015 is to maintain the great working relationships with our clients and continue to provide them with high quality experiential entertainment.
Do you have any long-term goals, targets and strategies for your agency?
Tempo Live is making great progress from quarter to quarter and in such a short timeframe too. We are absolutely on track with our business model and are beating our growth targets on a regular basis. We are continuing to invest back into the company to ensure we have the resources for growth in the long term and we will continue to create new client relationships throughout the course of the year.
By October 2015 I aim to make my freelance account management team full-time, allowing them to manage the campaigns that we produce more effectively. This development will in turn help Tempo Live to work more efficiently and allow us to produce multiple large-scale campaigns.
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