Score: 6
Last year: 6
How the agency rates itself: 7
While Quiet Storm gained more traction in 2016 than in previous years, it still struggles to keep up with the growth of other agencies of a similar size.
The shop won five accounts – two without a pitch – and lost Mission Foods. New business is an area that needs improvement, especially if the team is to show adland it has more than just a handful of fun ideas. Fun is something Quiet Storm does really well, however. For new client Yakult, the agency delivered its trademark humour, which poked fun at healthy ads to revitalise the brand. It was also humour that made Quiet Storm’s "Kids voices" ads for Haribo so popular that the client asked the agency to create spots for the US and Nordic markets and advise on campaigns in France, Spain and the Netherlands.
After such creative highs, however, the agency hit a low at the beginning of 2017 with an ad for Pukka Pies that combined some terrible acting with (this time) weak humour to position the pies as a "main meal" for busy mums.
Still, the agency brought in some strong new talent, including Tanya Faulkner, who joined from Publicis as client service director, and Leagas Delaney’s Daniel Healy, who took on the production director role.
Trevor Robinson and Rania Robinson are clearly doing something right but in 2017 Quiet Storm needs to generate a bigger buzz to attract more clients with enticing creative briefs.
How the agency describes its year in a tweet
A year of more: more clients, more countries, more channels, more people, and more great work all leading to more growth. Lovely.
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