Brand expression agency Taxi Studio is an independent design business based in Bristol that’s home to a collective of global talent - without unnecessary hierarchy or inflated titles.
Founded in 2002 by three friends, they have grown to work with global clients such as Coca-Cola, Tim Hortons and Costa, creating unforgettable brand expressions that drive business results. They have also swept the floor with award winnings over the years from the likes of Cannes, D&AD, Brand Impact, DBA and even received Creative Pool Agency of the Year.
Taxi represents an amazing story of great company growth and creating a culture of design excellence – a story that Founder and CEO Ryan Wills is quite eager to tell.
How was your company born and where are you based?
Taxi Studio was founded 20 years ago by myself and two of my oldest friends, Spencer Buck and Alex Bane. We met at design college (Somerset College of Arts and Technology), where we studied together. We became great friends with common interests, a shared view on approaching design and a belief in one another.
In 2002, we decided to set up our own business. The idea was to bring together what we class as great design to the southwest, and that's when Taxi Studio was formed.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
Brexit. Covid. War.
Need I say any more?
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
We hit the ground running when we opened the business, working with clients like Clarks and Somerfield, creating a stable and fruitful business.
The phone rang in 2006; Coca-Cola invited us to pitch to rejuvenate one of its energy drink brands, Burn. We won the pitch and became the global brand guardians of the brand - the opportunity was a pivotal moment for the business.
We created a burgeoning relationship with Coca-Cola, and to this day, we're still partnering with them - we're now one of their global strategic partners. It allowed us to work in multiple categories, travel the world, and provide opportunities with other clients such as Carlsberg and Beverage Partners Worldwide.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
The opportunity for us, now fundamentally, is to deliver against our reappraised proposition, Create Unforgettable®. Through covid, we reconsidered and clarified our positioning and offer to ensure that it was fit for purpose and relevant to our client base. So, we'll be looking to further embed our new methodology with our clients in the year ahead.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
Above all, the mindset of our team is what makes us unique. The process we follow isn't necessarily unique to us as a business - like most design agencies, we have an industry-standard design thinking methodology. However, what we do during that process, how we think and approach a challenge, and upholding our driving purpose of create unforgettable® is what makes us unique.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
Everyone is encouraged to build a career that plays to their strengths, doing what they love. I believe that creates a unique environment that enables people to take charge of their own careers and carve out a path they're motivated to achieve.
We also provide access to a mentor, a career coach, and a training and inspiration budget. Whilst encouraging the team to remain inspired and motivated by attending industry events, galleries, and museums and participating in creative workshops.
Our studio team talks hosted by inspirational individuals with different backgrounds often provide thought-provoking debates around industry news and trends, such as the future of design. These talks led to our Creative Discomforts collaboration with D&AD.
We actively embrace unique projects to empower our team to flex their creative skills and take inspiration from a thought-provoking challenge. We recently collaborated with Wake The Tiger, the world's first Amazement Park®, creating a psychedelic-inspired brand world.
So, ultimately, it’s a combination of multiple factors that help us remain inspired and motivated. Not least, the team is constantly curious.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
The pandemic opened our eyes to the opportunities of connected working - giving us access to talent that historically we wouldn't have considered because of the possibilities of remote and flexible working. We currently have a hybrid setup that works exceptionally well – yet I firmly believe that having a central space where the team can come together and collaborate is essential to creativity.
Covid-19 also allowed us to pause, reflect and reappraise who we are and what we stood for, culminating in our Create Unforgettable® positioning. This new positioning sees us set for the future with a re-energised purpose.
In essence, it was a great time of reflection and the ideal opportunity to push the reset button.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
There are multiple agencies, large and small, that can inspire me. As a business, we're aware of our competitors, new people popping up in the marketplace, and agencies that focus on progressive work or new brand experience opportunities.
However, I try to remain focused on who we are and what we're doing, rather than being distracted by what others are doing. I'm personally more interested in things outside our industry or something that could potentially impact our industry, like Dalle 2 or Midjourney.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Have a solid plan. Just as the saying goes - fail to plan, plan to fail. I know it's a cliché, but it's so true!
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
The best new business is existing business – what I mean by that is ensuring that you uphold the quality of your work and create real and lasting relationships with clients built on mutual respect. That is what breeds referrals and new business.
We have an experienced new business team dedicated to and passionate about nurturing new relationships. We consistently keep our name out there to ensure that we remain relevant and front of mind.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
My one big hope is that the value of brand consultancy continues to be recognised and it doesn’t become a commoditised service industry.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
There's not one particular resource or book that helps me stay inspired. For me, it's every part of life – I have a diverse group of friendships and engage in interesting conversations. I keep busy with activities and passions and, of course, spending time with my family.
I admire what others in the industry are doing, but things outside our industry generally inspire me the most.
It's all about absorbing life.
