Valtech is a global transformation company, powered by digital innovation. They empower customers to build impactful experiences, improve human lives, and accelerate business growth. As managing director, Chris Daplyn talks to us about Valtech’s client-servicing in the creative field and the ins-and-outs of running Valtech’s UK operation.
How was your company born and where are you based?
Valtech was born in France in 1993 from an industry need for support with digitalisation efforts. We’re a company that helps brands with their digital transformation, ensuring they – and their customers – get value from their technology as it’s embedded into the business and put to action.
So, given the space we operate in and the time in which we were found in (just before the .com boom), we’ve grown in parallel with the digital age. We’re witnesses to its growth over the last thirty or so years, while operating at the forefront of its development.
Especially in the last ten years with digital transformation climbing further up businesses’ agendas, Valtech has steadily grown. We’ve made various acquisitions as part of our expansion and formed numerous technology partnerships to strengthen our service offering.
We’re now in 22 countries with 60 offices worldwide – a team of 5,700 people and counting, all of whom possess an enviable array of skills and subject matter expertise. I’m based in our London office in Angel, but we also have offices in Manchester and Bristol, so we’re never too far away!
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
Maintaining excellence, all while scaling and adding broader capabilities, is one of the most common underlying challenges that agencies face as they grow. We’re by no means unique in that.
But as a business transformation partner with deep technology expertise, we’re doing more than putting money behind an ad; we’re helping businesses truly transform the way they operate and engage with their customers right now and into the future. By building processes and systems to future-proof their digitalisation effectively, we’re in it for the long haul, helping our clients every step of the way.
Therefore, for our growth, it’s important that we stay true to our excellence in tech as we add new capabilities that enable us to support businesses’ transformation end to end, from organisational change to marketing services. It’s easy to compromise on certain areas as we offer new services, but this isn’t in our blood as it won’t translate to delivering more exceptional experiences; that’s what we’re committed to.
One thing that has helped us maintain our excellence in tech is our partners. We’ve partnered with the world’s leading technology companies to ensure the development and integration of technology innovations are best serving businesses’ needs.
As technology becomes more commoditised, it’s important that we remain profitable and maintain our level of service. By operating as one global team across our regional delivery units, our clients get the experience and talent that are best placed to advise on the specific subject matter and need, no matter where they’re based.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
I’ve been at Valtech for two years so can only speak for that timeframe. But so much has happened since I joined. One that sticks out to me is winning the Kingfisher account. Like any client win, we were incredibly proud and excited about it. But this win marked a turning point for our ecommerce capabilities.
Tying it back to my point about the challenge of adding broader capabilities during a time of growth, we had recently got our ecommerce offering to a place where it had never been so robust. We built a team of the best subject matter experts in the business.
We also had the architectural skills that are suitable for commerce-driven projects from years of business transformation work across multiple industry sectors, allowing us to grow into our commerce wings. Kingfisher came to us with a strong ask, so their confidence in choosing us was huge.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
We believe there’s huge potential in the UK’s public sector when it comes to digital transformation and making .GOV services easier to access and use. This, as well as our work in other industries lagging in digitalisation, will fuel our ability to build more innovative and creative services that truly improve how people experience the world.
Also, as I’ve alluded to already, commerce continues to be a big avenue for our company over the next 12 months. The commerce landscape is in a phase of change. From pure-play ecommerce retailers to traditional bricks and mortar businesses, each one has its own needs.
But a common thread is their need to transform technology and improve customer experiences. Driving new or improved revenue streams is vital as consumer behaviour evolves.
A key focus for us is MACH (which stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless) commerce architectures, sometimes known as composable commerce. This approach decouples consumer facing experiences and back-end technologies, enabling a more connected, omnichannel approach.
It also removes the reliance on one monolithic technology solution that is good at some things and not so good at others. Instead, you integrate best-of-breed solutions to create an architecture that’s configured for unique business needs, but (arguably) most importantly, longevity.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
We’re all about designing the future. This isn’t about creating ‘the next big thing’, but about creating ‘the future thing’ that improves human lives. Our strategic process involves gathering industry and consumer insights on what trends are expected to take shape, and then forecasting what’s needed to propel it forwards.
We analyse customer behaviour at a granular level so what we end up designing is laser-focused on their future experience, as opposed to what they’re experiencing now. It’s our mantra to take leaps, not incremental gains. We don’t want to get hung up on making minor improvements to what already exists as not everything will stand the test of time.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
We create a safe environment for people to bring their ideas to the table and have them challenged. It’s about embracing multi-disciplinary and diverse ideas to avoid a sea of sameness. We’ve structured ourselves in a way that sees product engineers sitting next to client managers, commerce specialists sitting next to mobility experts, and so on.
This helps to eliminate siloes, as well as empower people to exercise their expertise with confidence. Our D&I mission, as laid out by our experienced global D&I leader Sheree Atcheson, has been a key catalyst behind this.
From a more personal perspective, I’m a true believer in the power of transparency. I’ve found that bringing everyone along for the ride by regularly communicating the highs and lows is hugely beneficial for fostering a sense of community.
I also believe that it’s important to not do too much at once. Doing so can overload people and shrink their headspace for inspiration. We try to remain focused in everything we do, not only for our people’s benefit, but for our clients too.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
We’ve undoubtedly been affected by the economic hardship that’s occurred over the last few years. A silver lining for us has been that the digital world has accelerated as people flock online and brands evolve to appeal to them.
This has meant that, despite the tightening of the purse strings, many businesses are redirecting their spend towards digital transformation. And in doing so, many are realising the importance of having an expert to help them along their digital transformation journey.
But the biggest impact the pandemic has had on our business has been to the way we work. With more remote working in play, we’ve been able to hire all over the UK and collaborate even more closely with our global colleagues.
In fact, it’s rare we have an account that’s only based in the UK. We can tap into subject matter experts all over the world, who have the perfect skills to add to our projects. We still have office space as physical connection is important, but we’re remote-first.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
Two very different businesses I admire are Uncommon Creative Studio and ustwo. Uncommon have a bullish philosophy (building brands people wish existed), a relentless focus on creativity, and an ability to bring in brilliant talent. ustwo are strong because of their culture, design philosophy, and work which is incredibly innovative.
What both businesses have in common is that they’ve thrown away the usual agency business model. Both work with clients to deliver work, but they also make their own products for their own profits.
Uncommon have built their own brands and made feature films, and now sell their own designs through an online shop. ustwo has a successful gaming division, building their own products for sale and download. In both instances, their own work makes their client work better and vice versa and reduces the reliance on traditional service-led revenues.
In terms of industry heroes, Karen Blackett was a big inspiration for me when I worked at WPP. She’s a superwoman, a great brain, and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Be focused when deciding what you want to scale so growth can be executed responsibly. It gives you the confidence to say ‘no’ as always saying ‘yes’ can instantly take your eyes off the target. I heard a great mantra recently – if it’s not a ‘f*ck yeah’ it’s a ‘no’.
How do you go about finding new clients/business?
We choose a focus area and go all in. Our commerce capability is a good example. We built specialism through subject matter experts, delivered targeted thought leadership to companies we really wanted to work with, attended events, created direct marketing campaigns, strengthened our relationships with our tech partners and clients in the space, and so much more. For us, new business isn’t an individual pursuit; it’s a team sport.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
Ultimately, I hope we can continue finding ways to use technology for good. Fundamentally, technology can improve lives if deployed in the right way. It can make people’s lives simpler and easier.
From education to accessibility, technology has the power to help people get more out of the world they live in. To be a key driver behind that is a big motivator for many of us who work in this industry.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
Matt Mullenweg’s Distrubuted.blog is a great resource that captures the current state of work. Its podcast’s underlying message is on the importance of cultural connection and belonging, outlining how we can make work as effective as possible in a distributed world.
Then from a leadership perspective, I resonate with Bob Iger’s book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. He outlines 15 leadership rules to live by which I go back to regularly for inspiration – and to hold myself accountable!
