This week, we sat down with Martin MacConnol, Founder and CEO at the Covent Garden-based creative agency Wardour.
How was your company born and where are you based?
We began life as a content marketing agency on Wardour Street, Soho, in 1996 – the same spot where my family were once jewellery sellers. As an ex-Financial Times journalist, I was – and still am – passionate about the need for brands having something important to say. To this day I still obsess about the story.
Today things look a bit different. We’re a creative agency based in Covent Garden, in the heart of London’s creative industry. Just like the day we started, though, I still have a desk on the office floor. The people are what makes Wardour – I can’t bear the thought of shutting myself in an office away from them!
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
A few years ago, as we emerged from the pandemic, we saw a clear shift in client requirements. It was far less likely that clients would come to us for long-term content campaigns (which was our bread and butter), and instead they were coming to us for short-term, project-based work, which in its very nature was a lot more varied in terms of format.
This meant that, at the start of this curve, to win competitive pitches, with remits comprising video, animation, print, annual and sustainability reports and social campaigns (to name a few), the pitch process became first and foremost about showcasing the agency’s unboxed way of thinking first, and its application second.
Thankfully, we know that the people are Wardour are truly skilled and the very best at what they do. We’ve very grateful that we’ve come through this challenge stronger. Since then, having won a variety of work, now, as well as pitching our way of thinking we can also demonstrate clear impact and ROI across these formats.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
Our first award – it must have been way back before the millennium. Not because it was some sort of vanity project, but rather an industry recognition that what we did actually delivered for the client. We did what we set out to do. It ignited something in me.
Awards became a way of holding the agency accountable and making sure we were fearless in our approach to delivering for our clients. Only the very best win awards, and we wanted our clients to feel like they were working with the very best. This mantra has lived on at the agency, and today we’re the most-awarded agency of our kind, having just celebrated our 200th marketing award win!
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
I hate to say AI, because it’s what everyone’s talking about – but there’s a reason. The opportunity for Wardour doesn’t lie in simply being able to use the tech, however. Rather, in understanding its application and what is and isn’t right for each client. Businesses in the B2B sector are increasingly coming to us for advice on using AI in their marketing, because the tech (and now the associated regulation) is moving so quickly that they understandably can’t keep up.
We’ve been using AI as an agency for years, and have a Head of Creative Technologies whose job it is to keep the agency’s finger on the pulse of all things AI. This has resulted in us writing articles in industry publications about the impact of the forthcoming EU AI Act and the running of multiple, private tech innovation workshops where we showcase AI in a client-specific context. So I certainly see an opportunity in becoming more consultative for our clients when it comes to their AI practices.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
Not really… because it’s unique to every brief! But there are certain things we do every time – for instance we always focus on what we want audiences to ‘think, feel, do”. One of our agency values is to ‘stay curious’, which means we always challenge the client. Why do you want us to produce a video?
Do you think this is the best way of reaching your audience? Is your audience the same as it was a year ago – and if you’re not sure, do you want to find out? By (tactfully!) challenging our clients, it means that by the time we get to the start of the creative process, our understanding of their objectives is so clear that the client trusts is in being truly fearless in the creative process.
In addition, as an independent agency on the smaller side, our senior team has the luxury of knowing each and every person who works at Wardour. This means that when we put teams together for new accounts, we can guarantee we bring in the very best people for that particular project, many of whom have different approaches to the creative process. I’ve found that sometimes it can be the people who drive a creative process, not the process that drives the people.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
By looking outside. Not the window (although sometimes that helps). But by looking outside of our industry. Again, this comes back to our value of ‘stay curious’. There’s something to learn from everything we see, and we share this in weekly ‘standing’ meetings (we know it’s an agency cliché, but we love a standing meeting).
But we don’t limit our inspiration and motivation to our own people – we see the respective client teams as an extension of our own team, so we share this inspiration with our clients too. This means that we don’t get caught in the B2B echo chamber, and can collaborate with our clients to produce something truly unique that we can all – client and agency – be really proud of.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
Everyone reading this will know that marketing budgets were cut, and agencies felt the brunt of that. But there’s one way that it really benefited us. It reminded us that clients are real people. Suddenly we saw our clients’ children running around in the background of a Teams call, their cats waking in front of their camera and their dog barking to announce the day’s Amazon delivery.
This allowed us to really connect with our clients – and it’s something we’ve worked hard to maintain. We actively ask clients about their kids, pets, holidays – whatever it might be – and actively tell clients about our own kids, pets and holidays. It turns out, our clients like dealing with real people too!
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
I think Huge Inc in the US is really interesting. The way it has translated its proposition into a set of products which are easy to understand (and therefore easy for clients to buy) is very clever.
My heroes in the industry (beyond my team!) are Tim Doust and Robin Jaffray. They run R&D Partners, which is a strategic business consultancy, helping creative businesses and brands develop and flourish. They are a source of really useful wisdom and insight.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Embrace change. Marketing changes in an instant – and to stay 10 minutes ahead of the curve you have to be fearless. If you just do what everyone else is doing, that might work for a while, but you’re not going to stand out. One day, there will be an agency who does something fearlessly different and that will be the agency people are talking about. Make sure that agency is yours.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
Our clients regularly tell us that one of the things they love about working with Wardour is the people. So, quite simply, by getting out and about to industry events we meet prospects and (hopefully!) show them that we’re great people to work with. Lots of agencies will have the relevant creds, but it’s the people that are the true differentiator.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
That more clients will want to be fearless. We’re very lucky in that lots of our clients are already in this boat. But I know that at all agencies, people across all teams can feel their wings are somewhat clipped by clients being fearful.
The more fearless agencies are allowed to be, the more exciting marketing will become. A simple shift in mindset has the chance to truly revolutionise this industry.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
Well, if you want to understand the art of storytelling (and anyone creative should because it all boils down to storytelling), then you should get your head around The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker.
And more generally if you want to understand what it takes to succeed in our world you can do no better than reading Paul Arden’s It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be. Kind of says it all really.
