Founded in 2010 by three creative directors determined to break away from traditional agency structures, The Clearing has built its reputation on bringing strategy, writing and design together from the very beginning of every project. From its London studio, the independent branding agency has helped organisations create distinctive, meaningful brands while staying committed to collaboration, creativity and purposeful thinking.
In this interview, Jonathan Hubbard, Creative Director and Founder, reflects on The Clearing's journey, the challenges of growing an independent agency, the value of storytelling in branding, and how becoming a B Corp has reinforced the company's commitment to creating positive impact. He also shares insights into the agency's creative process, company culture and vision for the future of the creative industry.
How was your company born and where are you based?
We were three frustrated creative directors working at a big and well-known London agency, and we had got tired of the linear and siloed manner we were increasingly being asked to work to.
We knew that when strategists, writers and designers worked together on a problem, the answers were always more thorough and more creative. We set The Clearing up to prove our point in 2010. We’ve always been based in London, starting out in a small studio just off Exmouth market, and today our studio is in Borough Market. Great for atmosphere and inspiration, bad for the waistline!
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
It feels like we have always had to run the business in tough markets! The biggest challenge to growth is always new business, like all agencies we’re predominantly project based which means we always have to be winning new business and filling the pipeline with new opportunities. We have also been hands-on as a senior team, with a passion to deliver work we’re all proud of for all our clients. The split focus of being close to client work and achieving growth can be a challenge.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
After week one, we were invited to speak to the Marketing Director managing the merger of DHL Domestic and Home Delivery Network who needed to create a name and brand for their new business. We won the project that week and haven’t looked back. Yodel, the brand we created hasn’t aged so well and is now a pale imitation of the vision we had for them! But it was also the biggest opportunity we had in our first year and it got us started.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
We have always built our way of working around the close collaboration of strategy, design and writing and how the three disciplines work together from the outset of any project. We are passionate about strategic thinking and design that’s creative, relevant and effective for our clients. But more unique amongst our competitors is our focus on writing. We consider storytelling and tone of voice as much as the visual elements of any client project and have always put it at the heart of the agency’s mission.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
We’re a closely knit group of people who share a love for creating great work. We spend lots of time chatting and sharing work that we find interesting and inspiring, and our mix of youth and experience is also a great way of keeping our eyes and minds open. We are lucky to also have a great breadth to our client base from product, retail and e-commerce brands to B2B and charities. The variety always keeps us motivated.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Never let the quality of what you deliver slip. Never stand still or be over satisfied with what you’ve just done, take the learnings into the next project.
Be visible and put lots of time and effort into marketing yourselves and building your profile.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
Reputation counts for a lot, and warm leads are always satisfying. Having work published and winning awards also helps raise awareness as does making sure you have a profile out there, so that potential new clients can find you.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
That our industry learns how to embrace and live with new technology and that clients continue to see the value in investing in original thought and creativity to solve their challenging business problems.
That it continues to be an industry that can attract bright, talented, inquisitive, diverse and open-minded people.
Can you share a defining moment in your company's journey that shaped its identity or direction?
There have been many. Winning important jobs. McLaren, one of our founding clients, helped us win Ascot, that helped us win Wimbledon, which helped us win Lords and MCC.
Breast Cancer Now and Dogs Trust have given us the credibility to work on an amazing list of charities.
In January 2024 we also became B Corp certified. Since starting out, we’ve always been driven by two important goals: to create standout brands, and to stand up for the causes we believe in. The process was by no means easy, it meant scrutinising every part of our business to work out where we could be better. But it felt like a natural step for us, becoming part of a movement that uses business as a force for good. And as a result it’s brought around some amazing changes for us as a team.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within your team?
Increasingly tight timings on projects makes fostering a culture that innovates more challenging. We believe that the conversations we collectively have about each project as a team – writers, designers, motion designers, strategists, technology partners and client managers are vital – creativity is developed through these collaborative sessions where everyone brings their experience, views and insight to each project.
What measures do you take to ensure diversity and inclusion are prioritised within your company?
We all know the creative industry is not as diverse and inclusive as it should be. As a business we try to be transparent with our team so we can understand how best to support everyone, from previous, current and future team members. Whether that’s DEI training, using inclusive language in our job descriptions, or providing additional paid leave.
To try and lower some of the barriers stopping young people entering the industry today, we’ve also built our own outreach programme, partnering with local schools, charities and education programmes to run workshops, portfolio reviews, mentorship and work experience opportunities. Supporting and informing young people about creative career opportunities is something we all get involved in and feel passionately about.
Can you describe a project that challenged your team creatively and how you overcame any obstacles?
We recently worked with Working Animals International, a global working animal welfare charity who needed to make the big conceptual shift from a specialist legacy charity to a global NGO, taking their people, supporters and partners on the journey with them. They work with some of the most vulnerable communities around the world that are being adversely affected by climate change, adding to their existing challenges of poverty and civil unrest – a complex backdrop to any project. The client was unsurprisingly nervous around how we would achieve their aims – to change the name and reinvent the brand.
Our creative process built through many years of experience helps us through even the most complex and challenging projects like this. We started with the team getting to really know the challenges through interviews, conversations and visits, helping them understand what the brand needed to do to help them make the conceptual shift needed. Working closely with them – we always establish a close working client relationship from the beginning – two credible alternative stories and conceptual routes were developed that we tested with all the audiences we’d spoken with around the world.
The creative challenge for this project was how do we manage the opposing forces of those familiar with the brand seeing the strands of DNA in its evolution, whilst presenting a modern and dynamic brand to everyone else, and considering how we make it illustrative, bold and descriptive for many of their core audiences who can’t read.
The benefit of a close working relationship with their team meant we could collectively iterate on the solution over an extended period of time until we had the solution everyone was happy with. For us the challenge was keeping the focus on the goal and the energy to keep refining. Their CEO sums up how they felt working with us “The team combined strategic thinking with outstanding creativity, and they were collaborative, responsive and a genuine pleasure to work with throughout. They were also confident enough to challenge us constructively when needed, helping us make bold decisions”, a response we loved hearing.
How do you balance maintaining your company's unique creative voice while meeting the diverse needs of clients?
Our creative voice comes from a shared belief in what makes great work – clarity, simplicity and a strong sense of story and personality rather than an agency ‘look’ or style.
We’re always drawn to clients that want to be taken on a journey however diverse their brief.
What strategies do you employ to adapt to changes and trends in the industry while staying true to your company's values?
The attributes that make a brand great are unchanged - clarity, consistency and differentiation executed with personality and style. Our company values are focused on the outcome, but we’re always happy to find new ways of adapting and changing the ways we work with the input.
Can you share a memorable client success story that exemplifies your company's approach and impact?
To answer this, we’d like to share the full quote from Linda Edwards the CEO of Working Animals International as we couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
“From the outset, The Clearing felt like a true extension of our team. They invested significant time in getting to know our organisation, our mission and values, and the diverse stakeholders we needed to engage throughout the process. That insight-led approach meant the new brand was grounded in evidence and deeply rooted in who we are.
The team combined strategic thinking with outstanding creativity, and they were collaborative, responsive and a genuine pleasure to work with throughout. They were also confident enough to challenge us constructively when needed, helping us make bold decisions and ensuring the project maintained momentum at every stage.
The result is a brand that articulates our mission with far greater clarity and shines a light on the often-overlooked issue of working animal welfare. It feels bolder, more modern and better reflects the scale of our ambition as an organisation.
The response has exceeded our expectations. Internally, the new brand has generated real excitement and momentum. Externally, it has been very positively received by donors, partners and peers across the sector, with strong media coverage and encouraging feedback from our international programmes.
We’re delighted with the outcome and grateful to The Clearing for the creativity, insight and hard work they brought to every stage of the process. The new brand gives us a stronger platform to raise awareness of our mission and continue building Working Animals International’s voice for working animals around the world.”
How do you approach sustainability and ethical practices within your company's operations and projects?
Becoming part of the B Corp movement means we’ve made a commitment to prioritise people and the planet alongside profit. Our social and environmental responsibilities are baked into everything we do. From prioritising working with clients and suppliers who match our values to drive positive change, reducing our environmental impact by setting an ambitious Net Zero target, running our studio on 100% renewal energy and reducing our travel emissions, to partnering with local charities, offering pro bono brand expertise, paid volunteering time and fundraising throughout the year.