When did you launch your agency and what were your reasons for going it alone?
We launched Jackanory just over a year ago in February 2014. We’d already worked together for eight years in various big agency environments and felt the time was right to set up on our own. We wanted to create an agency that enabled us to fulfill our passion for telling brand stories through unique events and experiences, all with bags of fun at their core.
What’s more, we wanted to be fully in control of our own destinies and felt strongly that an agency with less red tape, less waffle and a little more magic would enable us to be far more agile, flexible and cost-effective for our clients.
Which campaigns have been your favourites to work on this year and why?
We’ve done some fabulously quirky events for brands such as Google and Heineken that required a huge amount of creative production in order to bring the activity to life and gain the impact required. Towards the end of last year we created a and felt more than a little proud that our work had inspired thousands of people to do even better baking. Most recently we completed a successful campaign at London Fashion Week.
We’ve enjoyed flexing our creative muscles through a number of high-end private events and Christmas parties. Whatever the activity, we always strive to tell the business or brand story at every touch-point and to create fun, memorable experiences that create a few stories of their own.
How successfully has your agency traded so far?
We’re delighted, and relieved, to say that we’ve had a fantastic first year. It’s been both profitable and rewarding at every level.
What have been the biggest challenges?
We can’t lie – it’s not been easy. As any business owner will admit, there are so many ups, downs, unexpected pressures and pitfalls when you set up on your own.
Our biggest challenge has been managing the increasing workload and ensuring we continue to deliver above and beyond our clients’ expectations. We’re very fortunate to have a fabulous team of creative and production experts behind us, who’ve supported us from day one and helped keep us sane. Over the past year we’ve shed quite a few tears, laughed a hell of a lot and drunk more than our fair share of wine.
What have you got coming up in 2015?
We're very happy to have won two new clients already this year as well as retaining three of our biggest clients from 2014. We’re looking forward to working and growing with each one over the coming months. We have some very exciting projects in the pipeline for 2015 – working with a spirits brand, a perfume brand, a beauty brand and an FMCG brand.
We’re also looking to expand the Jackanory team in spring and we’ll be keeping busy settling into new offices in Covent Garden.
Do you have any long term goals, targets and strategies for your agency?
We have strong growth plans in place for 2015 and beyond, but we‘re very conscious of the pitfalls of growing too quickly. We’re looking to build on our experience in the travel retail, FMCG and tech sectors as well as expand our client base for corporate conferences.
But most importantly we’re determined to keep doing what we’re passionate about – using the power of stories to create unique and memorable brand experiences and events – and to have a whole lot of fun doing it. As we continue to grow, our aspirations will remain the same and we’ll be constantly striving to ensure Jackanory retains its personable, boutique agency feel.
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