For this week’s spotlight, we spoke to OJ Deady, Co-founder and Managing Partner at TwelveAM, a premium content production agency connecting brands and audiences through immersive, high-quality content that gets to the heart of modern culture and pushing the boundaries between advertorial and entertainment.
How was your company born and where are you based?
TwelveA.M. started, like many before us, from frustration, but ultimately it was from observing an ever-increasing disconnect between all the different forms of creativity that exist.
We wanted to create an agency where all different tribes of creativity stimulate each other. We’re based in central London but are soon to have a team member based full time on the US West Coast.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
Covid certainly was the most obvious challenge to the growth of TwelveA.M. but if anything I think it helped us realign with why we started the agency in the first place.
Consistency as we grow is a continued challenge: we pride ourselves on - and have a reputation for - high-end, premium work so sustaining that and growing the business will always remain a challenge but one we have managed to meet so far.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
The very first huge success was probably back when there were just three of us and we got our first TV campaign for GSK’s Maximuscle, a slot which was shown just before the 2015 Rugby World Cup started.
That felt like a big moment for us, having our creative, exactly how we had imagined it, shown for millions to see.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
A continued opportunity for longer form branded content to be championed as it becomes more difficult to reach fragmented audiences on multiple platforms.
We continue to work with brands who want to produce hero content which informs other channels and, ultimately, other forms of brand communication.
Can you explain your team’s strategy / process? What makes it unique?
Our agency focuses on high-end content creation fused with brand communication and audience insight. We combine all elements rather than each individual and their role sitting in silos. Instead the output is informed by everyone within the team.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
I feel our ability to travel and see other parts of the world has been the biggest motivator for us. This year alone we have been fortunate enough to shoot on multiple locations in the US, all across Europe and in the Middle East.
Collaborating with local creatives and talent in each market has been the most inspiring aspect of my career to date. There’s something incredibly bonding about bringing an original thought from a page to life and releasing control to others to imprint their stamp and make the work even more elevated than you could have originally imagined.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
Like everyone Covid brought us to a standstill. We were very fortunate to have a number of clients on a retained basis who quickly pivoted their strategies and allowed us to continue to work on smaller projects, but it did force us to stop and, ultimately, refocus.
We redefined who we were as a business and how we operate which I feel has allowed us a sense of freedom to create great work.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
There are so many ex-colleagues, friends and collaborators doing some great work. I continue to follow Jonny and Jono at JustSo closely as they were guys I looked up to from early on and continue to do so.
My friends at ThePark continue to make incredible experiential work but more often than not it’s great to have the Miroma Group and the agencies within it to look to for inspiration or simply share ideas over a coffee.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
It might seem obvious but refining your services and focussing on what you’re really good at. Like any business when you start you try to do a lot of everything, but the quicker we were able to say no to certain things and focus on our craft, the more we felt like we turned a corner and grew very evidently as a result.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
We don’t have a dedicated new business function within TwelveA.M. but we have been very fortunate to work with the majority of our clients on an ongoing basis. For example Augustinus Bader who we just shot a campaign for in New York first reached out in 2018 to shoot their very first product launch.
Tiffany&Co, who we are shooting with as I write this, was a referral from a previous client who we worked for on multiple projects. We are very fortunate to continue to work with select partners who get our full focus when executing on a creative brief - and long may it continue.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
An increased respect for people’s time. I feel like this has been improving since I first started out in the industry and something I am always mindful of with my own team and the teams I work with, clients included.
The pace of the industry is ever increasing with incredibly demanding deadlines and so on only getting tighter, but with the right team and a respect for their time I feel like we can continue to deliver the best work.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
We recently got our team National Art passes so they could visit galleries as often and as frequently as they liked. I always felt the galleries we have in London are some of the best in the world and I find them great sources of inspiration.
As far as books go I tend to recommend anything that isn’t too specific to our industry. When I started out I felt like I needed to read everything from Dave Trott to George Lois - who are great by the way - but at the moment I would read everything and anything that isn’t so connected to our industry.
