Keeping free of the agency network key to creative camaraderie - Richard Simpson

Last year marked the sad, early passing of Mick Dean. Mick was a renowned creative and founder of the highly regarded Edinburgh-based agency Pure Design. He was also a former Tayburner.

Independence allows owners to foster a strong culture and adapt to market needs, says Simpson

According to Malcolm Stewart (my co-MD) who knew Mick well, his wake was a touching celebration of his life, but it was also like a Tayburn reunion. The reminiscing and camaraderie that took place served to highlight the importance of culture and how bright, talented people in the right kind of environment can create enduring positive relationships.

It’s worth stating that the Tayburn of today is vastly different to the agency of Mick’s day. It’s not better. Nor is it worse. It’s just different: leaner, more focused and more profitable. We’d like to think the work is of the same high standard and that clients still receive an excellent level of service, but the format of the work has changed with just about everything we produce now living online.

It also proves that independence is an important agency quality that allows owners to not only foster a strong culture, but to adapt and evolve to meet the needs of the market. The sad news coming from AmazeRealise recently illustrated perfectly the power of a strong culture, with an outpouring of support and offers of help to those affected by the redundancies.

Evolution

We know only too well that the market we are operating in is one full of change and that the pace of these changes never seems to abate.

Furthermore, the volume and shape of the competition appears to be changing like never before. The large global agency networks, inspired perhaps by S4 Capital’s unicorn status (that was achieved in a little more than two years), appear to be consolidating around a fewer number of group brands.

Interestingly, the incentives offered to the owners of agencies acquired by S4 include a much larger balance of shares over cash, which points towards a need to retain senior talent and preserve culture. Closer to home, it will be interesting to see what Dentsu Aegis Network does with Whitespace, a strong agency brand in its own right, in a local stable that includes iProspect and Carat.

We are also not just competing with agency networks but with the global consultancies, too. Deloitte Digital has firmly established itself in Scotland and its proposition was bolstered with their acquisition of Market Gravity. And then there is evidence of the rise of the gig economy with former CMOs establishing associate networks that can effectively parachute senior teams in to address marketing challenges or maximise growth opportunities.

The cyclical nature of our market is also obvious in the way that client organisations have been building in-house teams and reducing the amount of investment they make outsourcing marketing services. This approach has also evolved with a hybrid agency-in house model in the form of The&Partnership that has emerged at RBS (soon to be NatWest Group).

All this was going on before the outbreak of Covid-19.

As a 41-year old business, Tayburn has lived through many recessions. However, the events of the past fortnight in the UK are unprecedented and have left many feeling uncertain about the future. We are fortunate that our people are well versed in remote working and while it felt strange saying goodbye in person earlier this week unsure of when we would next all physically meet up, the sense of camaraderie and team that has come through has been amazing.

We were quick to make some tough decisions for the greater good of the business and so we are now able to give our complete focus to our clients and help them, however possible, through these stormy waters. We are all in this together.

– Richard Simpson, joint managing director, Tayburn