Score: 7
Last year: 7
How the agency rates itself: 8
As it chalked up five years, Gravity Road seemed to realise its potential and grow up – although the shop didn’t stop having fun, attested by its strong creative work and new-business run. After ending a tumultuous 2015 on a high – in growth despite losing Bacardi, its biggest client – Gravity Road began 2016 full of confidence.
The agency’s work for Three and PokerStars showed that it knows how to work with celebs – an area where many shops struggle. In September, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams’ parody of a beauty ad delivered Three’s most successful online film.
Earlier in the year, Gravity Road and PokerStars managed to orchestrate a ball skills battle between Brazilian footballers Ronaldo and Neymar. The campaign has received 63 million views.
Gravity Road also worked with celebrities of a different flavour – Sir Terence Conran, Sir John Hegarty and Anya Hindmarch – on the relaunch of the Design Museum, which opened the doors of its new £83m Kensington home in November.
But it’s not all about the work. Founders Mark Boyd and Mark Eaves made sure that the shop’s new-business reputation remained intact. The agency added B&Q, Captain Morgan, Comparethemarket.com, Gordon’s and Universal to its books.
The agency also continued to impress its existing client base, picking up extra work from Mondelez (the Belvita business) and Sainsbury’s Bank.
As Katie Lee prepares to leave for Sunshine, Eaves and Boyd will need to move quickly to replace her and keep up the momentum.
Gravity Road is one of a dwindling number of prominent independents so its work with Pitch@Palace, Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style event for start-ups, should be applauded for championing entrepreneurs.
At a time when consultancies are eating into agency space – evidenced by Accenture’s acquisition of Karmarama – Gravity Road shows how truly innovative work can keep clients hungry for more.
How the agency describes its year in a tweet
Is it Christmas yet?
Score key: 9 Outstanding 8 Excellent 7 Good 6 Satisfactory 5 Adequate 4 Below average 3 Poor 2 A year to forget 1 Survival in question