Managing business expectations is possibly among the most difficult aspects of running a successful agency. Things can quickly get out of hand and fast, incontrollable growth is the perfect recipe for disaster. Which is why the semplicity behind Chromatic Brands is among the healthiest we've seen in recent years.
Chromatic Brands is a branding agency born out of the desire to create an eco-system, not an empire. With steady and controlled hand, Creative Director Simon Case leads his beloved agency whilst constantly wrestling with the temptation to jump at the next big thing. With simplicity and a taste for creative, intellectually stimulating challenges, Chromatic Brands is set to grow collaboratively and organically, juggling ambition and skill with a keen eye on the wellbeing of the team.
For this Company Spotlight, we had an inspiring chat with Simon Case, Creative Director at Chromatic Brands, to learn more about the story behind his branding agency.
How was your company born and where are you based?
In 2006 I helped to found an agency that quickly grew to around 40-50 people within two years. It was an amazing experience; but managing so many people and salaries and covering the cost of a big office was enormously stressful. And having a beautiful two-floor office in a Victorian pump house just off Leman Street was lovely, but when the financial crash happened we discovered that we’d created a monster we couldn’t afford to feed.
So after selling the agency in 2012, we decided to do it differently and to focus on building an eco-system, not an empire. Chromatic is as a business built around a core team of hugely experienced experts, augmented by trusted specialists when necessary.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
Our biggest challenge is to grow in a manageable way that works for our people and enables us to extend relationships with our key clients. There is always a temptation to jump at the next big opportunity, but it makes more sense for us to grow steadily and sustainably. Additionally, we like projects that are both intellectually and creatively challenging, so our work is built on big ideas that make a real difference to our clients.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
Our work is split fairly evenly between strategy, design and activation, mostly for financial, professional and technology service businesses.
Our first big strategic successes was to define the brand strategy and proposition for one of the world’s largest insurance firms. It has been enormously satisfying to watch the ideas and language which we developed permeate the entire business. The MD quoted the proposition we developed half a dozen times in a recent podcast.
From a design point of view, our recent work for Highmetric, a global B2B tech firm, has not only given them a hugely distinctive new identity and website, but also an entirely new visual and verbal language with which to communicate and market their services.
And on the activation side, we are currently leading the creation of a new ‘pre-loved’ goods platform that will launch in the UK via a national TV and social advertising campaign in May. More to come on this one!
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
Our business is focussed on a number of key sectors, so we are currently building on our knowledge and relationships in those sectors in order to extend the solutions that we can provide.
Can you explain your team’s creative process?
One of the things that sets us apart is that we work across disciplines in a very, very collaborative way that actively discourages the idea that any one person or skill-set ‘owns’ a solution – no ego’s here thank you. So one of the things we do during projects is to make people ‘swap’ work. This enables everyone in the team to bring their own skills to each solution and encourages more objective evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
We are hugely ambitious in our aims for every project, so inspiration comes from each member of the team reaching beyond what they have done before and trying things that are uncomfortable. But we also have ways of encouraging creative ‘play’, in order to get the team warmed up for new challenges. We take inspiration from the worlds of culture, politics, science and business, because we help organisations think about their role in the world and shape the way they engage with all stakeholders
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
As with all organisations, seeing each other less has meant that personal relationships are more difficult to maintain. We Zoom every day and chit chat about our lives, but as soon as we are able, we’ll get together for a very long team lunch.
Which individuals do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
I read a lot of Mark Ritson and Rory Sutherland, principally because they have a great capacity for cutting through marketing fluff to get to the important issues. I have also always admired Erik Spiekermann’s ability to marry a passion for design with commercial success. I sat opposite Eric at a wedding once and he was very funny, which just made me like him more.
What is one tip that you would give to other aspiring creatives looking for work?
Tenacity. We all fail frequently. In fact, being in the creative industry is almost an exercise in getting used to failure. So learn from your mistakes and keep getting back on the horse. Because the people who succeed in this game aren’t the most talented, they’re the people who keep going.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
I’m going to cheat here and have two. As our clients’ needs become increasingly complex, the benefits of forging interesting creative alliances become more attractive and exciting. So for the future, I’d like to see more expert businesses collaborating in unexpected and interesting ways to address the needs of some of the world’s biggest brands. And from a cultural point of view, while our industry has always been very inclusive in terms of providing opportunities to young working class talent, it remains stubbornly white and needs to become more representative of our wider culture.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
To quote the famous headline, would you like to sit next to you at dinner? If not, stop reading about design and marketing and start reading about everything else: Read The Economist, The New Scientist, The FT, novels, poetry, history - anything that will expand your understanding of the world around you and make you a more interesting person.
