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Finding the illusive sweet spot with the Orange Panther Collective | #CompanySpotlight

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A small but passionate team born from the ashes of some of the biggest agencies in the world, the spectacularly named Orange Panther Collective was founded on the cusp of the pandemic in March 2020.

From social gurus to brand strategists, big integrated creative thinkers to hot shot producers, their goal was to build a team of best-in-class specialists from around the world thanks to the flexibility and power of remote working.

We spoke to Simon Hewitt, Founding Partner & CEO, to discuss their “leaps and bounds” process, how they actually benefitted from the pandemic and the importance of looking for smart partnerships and sweet spots.

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How was your company born and where are you based?

The Orange Panther Collective (OPC) was conceived just before Covid (in January 2020) but born in the pandemic (May 2020). At the time of conception, Covid hadn’t really hit, so the fact our model is based on a small, remote working team with no central hub (unless you count a We Work we now have for two days a week on the Southbank), proved we were ahead of the game.

We always knew our model was the future, but Covid definitely expedited the broad acceptance of how we work.

What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?

Afraid I can’t commit to one, I can do two though – supply and demand (mind blown, right?!).

On the supply-side; we are constantly on the hunt for great people. When the world is rosy and the economy is growing, you can have your pick of the industry. When things look a little more bleak, and people want the security of a long-term gig, it can be harder to find quality people. And unlike some other businesses, ours lives and dies by the quality of the thinking and the craft, the brains and hands that create it.

On the demand-side; our proposition is pretty tight. Whilst we can help with everything from building a brand identity to identifying audience segments, from creating a social campaign to your first TV ad, there are some businesses that will get more value from what we do than others.

Scale-ups who know the next big leap in growth will come from building their brand, and investing in advertising at scale, are our perfect fit. Businesses who have hit the ceiling of what performance marketing alone can deliver. Brands who want to be famous.

But finding those people, in that sweet spot, is tough.

It’s almost like we could do with a little advertising ourselves…

Which was the first huge success that you can remember?

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I think it was Liverpool winning the treble in ‘84.

But if you want to talk specifically about OPC, then there have been a few big highs in the last two and a bit years. I would probably shine a light on two of them:

1. The day my partner in crime Lorna Burt decided that we might be on to something and packed in all other activities (apart from being a brilliant mum, partner and cat parent, obviously) to jump on board and help drive our little orange speedboat.

2. When we got a call from Fentimans Drinks to say the work we had done on their range of Mixers (their next big thing FYI) had won such favour they wanted to bring us on as their lead agency across their full range.

What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?

We’re about to launch a thought piece which will focus on the vast body of research showing that scale-up businesses disproportionately benefit from overspending in a recession.

This is due mainly to the building of an effective share of voice becoming much cheaper, as media costs drop due to brands cutting their spend. This also means there are simply fewer brands vying for eyeballs, so you get more visibility.

Add to that, exploratory research conducted by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has found that smaller brands are particularly vulnerable to sales drops after stopping advertising, therefore it’s all the more important for them to continue marketing support.

So we believe the biggest opportunity is in encouraging brands, especially scale-ups, to be brave and keep those marketing budgets healthy so they are in the best position to thrive in the looming recession.

Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?

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We call our process ‘Leaps & Bounds’. I don’t think you want the nitty gritty and I can reassure you that if we did get into the detail you’d likely just say that it’s quite simply a well-oiled, efficient, professionally run, holistic integrated agency process.

But what really makes it unique is how we build the teams that we work with. I mentioned we are a small agile team at the core (five of us at the moment) but we can grow to be 50, or 500, if we need to, all through our little orange book of world class strategists, creatives and producers (and all from sub-disciplines like content, social, AR or whatever is needed).

So our teams are always bespoke, invited in to work on a specific brief, and crucially given the choice to say yes or no, something we believe is so important as the best work always comes from an interested and engaged brain.

How does your team remain inspired and motivated?

Amazing leadership. OK so maybe that’s not all (or even half of it). It’s much more about the brands we work with and the people within them. One of the absolute best things about working with young brands is that you are more often than not in the room with the founders, and their passion for what they do and appreciation of what you can do for them, is immense.

It also means that ideas get bought and acted upon really quickly, something we all know doesn't happen too often in the big network agencies - something we know all too well after spending 15+ years in them.

How has COVID-19 affected your company?

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Covid has impacted our growth massively, in a positive way.

I feel really uncomfortable saying we have benefited from Covid on a professional level, as so many of us have suffered on a personal one, myself very much included. However the reality is that Covid fast-tracked a world where clients are comfortable working with smaller agencies and living in virtual meeting rooms, not bricks and mortar.

This meant we were a viable option from the off, whereas our model may have taken longer to gain traction when marbled foyers in Golden Square were still luring clients in. (By the way do they allow red wine in 36 Golden Square yet, it was banned in my time…)

Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?

There are a host of great established agencies out there and we are lucky to have worked at a few of them. There are also a load of new kids on the block doing interesting things, so it’s hard to name any stand out agencies.

What I would say is that the people I admire in the industry most are those that love to collaborate, those who believe there is enough great work to be done for all of us to flourish and those who act like good human beings along the way.

What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?

Find your north star and keep following it. Have a super tight positioning, know who you want to go after and then it’s easy to make work you believe in.

How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)

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Look for smart partnerships. Be bloody good, consistently, as retainers are dying out so you need to treat every project with a client like it’s your first and then they will come back for more.

What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?

That we all agree to stop making ads for brands that do bad, to people and the planet.

Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?

I’m not a big reader of industry books but I enjoyed ‘Be More Pirate’ by Sam Conniff (maybe because it’s not directly an industry book). I also got a lot out of “Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before” by Dr Julie Smith, which has definitely helped me be a better human being and CEO.

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