Score: 7
Last year: 8
How the agency rates itself: 7
Partners Andrews Aldridge has enjoyed another year of steady progress. The management team remained stable, the agency attracted a respectable amount of new business and it produced some impressive work.
While PAA lost News UK, the agency won some interesting briefs. It was appointed by Cox Automotive, which owns brands including Motors.co.uk, Dealer.com and Autotrader in the US, to work on customer experience and digital activity. The agency will create digital products to simplify the car-buying process.
PAA’s new content division won the content marketing work for existing client Santander against eight other agencies in a pitch. The Engine shop also made the most of its sister agencies’ contacts by securing the CRM account for WCRS client B&Q. And together with WCRS, PAA was appointed by FirstGroup to relaunch the TransPennine Express franchise.
PAA has continued to innovate, setting up an in-house research and user-testing facility, Experience Lab, and a customer engagement and media delivery platform, Rapport.
It also boasts strong relationships with existing clients. For example, the 30-strong team on E.ON work both at the brand’s Coventry HQ and PAA’s London offices, while user-experience, design and content teams have been on long secondments at the Department for International Trade for closer collaboration on agile projects.
PAA has produced a range of good work, from bespoke direct marketing packs for the BBC to a revamp of E.ON’s entire digital presence. The agency created an interactive map for Nato with up-to-date information on its members, work and security challenges. It also collaborated with sister shops on the integrated campaign for Bacs, which introduced the "Switch Guarantee Guy" to show how easy it is for UK customers to switch current accounts.
PAA should be proud of its achievements last year.
How the agency describes its year in a tweet
Creating work to enhance customers’ lives. With more diverse hires. More varied clients. New products, services & labs. And a lot of fun.
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