Score: 6
Last year: 6
How the agency rates itself: 7
2016 was Red Brick Road’s tenth anniversary. The agency celebrated by expanding into new offices, picking up five pieces of new business and securing a place on the government’s roster. Not a bad way to mark the occasion.
The largest win was an integrated brief for Beano Studios, the standalone business within DC Thomson’s portfolio, to help the comic launch a digital entertainment network for children.
The government appointed Red Brick Road to its new digital marketing and social media sub-roster.
The year’s low point was losing Just Eat following the arrival of a new marketing director at the start of the year – and despite the business posting a 47% increase in revenues year on year. Red Brick Road did not repitch for the business, which moved to Karmarama. The agency’s last piece of work for the client featured a group of men singing about what food they would order from Just Eat to the tune of the Backstreet Boys’ hit Backstreet’s Back.
Another client – Experian – also moved on, this time to Bartle Bogle Hegarty.
Some of the agency’s best work included its lovely TV spot "Outgrown your home" for Yorkshire Building Society, which showed a family living in a house that keeps shrinking until they can afford to move to a bigger place.
It released another ad for Thinkbox, this time showing an alien ruler interfering with TV broadcasts to announce: "Oola Oola Zod." Mobilised by the power of TV, the terrified public gather for the spaceship’s landing, only to discover the aliens are actually tiny.
The agency also joined the Ambitious About Autism recruitment scheme, with a paid employee with autism joining in September.
Red Brick Road enjoyed its tenth year but will be wanting to net a big client to replace Just Eat in 2017.
How the agency describes its year in a tweet
Oola Oola Zod!
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