Nielsen billings 2017: £58m (-32%)
Declared income: £4.8m
Total accounts at year end: 26
Accounts won: 5 (biggest: WeBuyAnyCar.com)
Accounts lost: 3 (biggest: Center Parcs)
Number of staff: 55 (-27%)
Key personnel: Andy Fowler, founder; Matt Charlton, chief executive; Will Flack, executive creative director; Aaron Wilmer, executive creative director; Jules Coetzee, innovation director
Star player: Tracy McCassey, head of TV
By self-rating the agency with a score of six – one less than it did for 2016 – Brothers and Sisters appears to acknowledge that 2017 was more ho-hum than vintage. Perhaps it had something to do with what was a transformational period for the agency. It underwent a change in creative leadership, allowing founder Andy Fowler to focus on major clients, including Sky, and it reshuffled its managerial pack, with some unfamiliar faces coming up through the ranks.
It posted a less-than-memorable business performance. Attempts to plug the gaps left by the losses of Carphone Warehouse, Sky Sports and Center Parcs with Hillarys Blinds’ integrated account and Carling were unsuccessful. So, no pressure then on Will Flack and Aaron Willmer, who assumed creative command from Fowler in the summer. Nor on Jules Coetzee, Tracy McCassey and Natalie Stamoulatos, long-term staffers, named as head of innovation, head of TV and client director respectively.
Meanwhile, the agency’s declared aim of harnessing new technology’s power to build brands led to fall-out, with Phil Teer’s departure as planning director. A replacement specialising in virtual reality and AI is promised. Digital director Kevin Brown also left during the year.
On a more positive note, the agency was one of just three UK shops to win a film Lion at Cannes (for Pearl & Dean’s "Tumbleweed"). And there’s the intriguing challenge of evolving its debut work for WeBuyAnyCar.com starring the oh-so-nice Phillip Schofield. Less treading water and more wave-making seems to be the order for 2018.
SCORE THIS YEAR |
SCORE LAST YEAR |
SELF RATING |
| 4 | 6 | 6 |
Agency's year in a tweet
Powerful and effective creative for smart brave clients who sniff out true originality as the best route to driving business growth.
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
< PREVIOUS AGENCY | NEXT AGENCY >
*indicates where agencies claim the corporate governance constraints of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation
