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NiceAgain ..stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive

15 February 2013

From time to time, we ask agencies to honour us by writing guest posts for our blog. In this case, we’ve asked Glyn at London design agency Nice Again to shed some light on their bespoke approach to connecting with prospective new clients. Hopefully the insights within will prove helpful to other new agency upstarts, as well.

by Mark Beacock, Creative Partner at Nice Again

There are a gazillion design and advertising agencies of all different shapes, sizes and ages out there – all trying to stake their claim on being the best option for clients. So with such ferocious industry competition, why not add a full swing double-dip recession to the mix and you might be thinking now may not be the greatest time to start-up an agency. You might be right – according to the SBA, one third of all new businesses go under in their first year. That said, here at Turned Out Nice Again we have not long celebrated our first birthday – an achievement we’re all very proud of.

So how have we managed to stay alive?

Firstly, we have a diverse set of skills in-house – we’ve had to outsource very little work, which has helped keep costs low.

Secondly, we’re a nimble and economical outfit, with four full-time staff. As necessary, we each get our hands dirty in all the different aspects of the agency; planning, sending out quotes/invoices, meeting with clients, etc.

Thirdly, we have managed to take our chances as and when they’ve come along. Not every single brief that comes through the door is going to set the world alight, but we are realists – the smaller ‘bread and butter’ work helps us keep going allowing us to then pick up the more prestigious briefs when they occur.

Fourthly, we are meticulous and hard working, therefore offering our clients excellent value for money.

Make no mistake though, starting out is difficult, and getting a proverbial foot in the door can be very difficult. Our approach to new business involves sending prospective clients something with a personal touch. Something that will stand out and hopefully intrigue them enough to get in touch. Although we predominately work in digital formats, but have found that instead of sending emails and digital portfolios to prospective clients, it’s more enticing for them to receive something bespoke.

Anyone can send an email saying: “Dear Sir, we’ve worked for X, Y and Z brands and would love to work for you blah blah blah…” but it’s so much more effective to actually make/design/build them a piece of work that actually shows them what you’re capable of.

As well as making a short promo film, we’ve handmade pieces of communication (pop-up cards, cardboard ‘vinyl’ mailers) on a limited edition basis and hand-delivered to prospective clients wherever possible, and we’ve got ourselves a good number of creds meetings this way. No one likes to receive impersonal, ‘spammy’ emails or junk mail through the letterbox so don’t be the one to send it.

Aside from our own new business activity, we’ve also been working on a number of briefs with Findgood. It’s refreshing to see a different approach to pitching – their clients don’t expect lots of free creative, they generally appoint an agency based on portfolio and intended approach to the brief.

Making it through our first year hardly means it’s plain sailing from here on in, but given the number of businesses that do fail, things are looking promising.

Danielle Stagg

Written by Danielle Stagg