Waypointers

Tom Walters, one of the three founders of Billion Dollar Boy, a trailblazing influencer agency, discusses the journey he and his fellow founders have been on over the last ten years – some of the wins and some of the challenges - and why they made a point of investing in building their own technology from day one. Tom explains that this deep exposure to tech to support the growth of the business m...

What kind of agency is best equipped to handle the modern marketing brief? Can a challenger agency compete with the holdcos for some of the industry’s biggest media accounts? The answer is most definitely yes.   These are among the topics that James Townsend, Global CEO Stagwell Brand X Performance Network and Global CEO at Assembly discusses with Waypoint’s Matt Lacey in the latest episode of Way...

Is the conventional agency model fit for purpose in today’s ever-evolving business climate? Steve Johnstone founded Alliance Creative to address the supply and demand needs businesses are looking for in a way that the traditional model often cannot. Alliance Creative is a carefully selected team of freelance professionals that adapts its resources and service-offering based on projects instead of...

Jenny Hughes and Jodie Williams, founders of The Marketing Pod, join Jamie Learmont in this week’s episode. Jenny and Jodie discuss how, with no prior agency experience, they set up their award-winning B2B marketing and strategic comms agency, navigating the complex world of ESG in the energy sector.   The enlightening conversation also looks at the challenges and opportunities Jenny and Jodie fac...

What are the pros and cons of taking angel money? Should you seek funding from friends and family? How can you avoid ending up with a messy cap table when taking early-stage investment? In this episode of #Waypointers, partners Deepa Shah and Jim Houghton pool their experience and discuss the different funding options available to agencies looking to support their growth. They also consider the di...

Katie Street, Owner and Founder of Street Agency, joins Phil to argue that a marketing-based approach to sales is the best way for agencies to grow and secure new business.    With only 5% of your target audience in the market for your products or services at any time, you need to ensure you’re reaching them in the most effective way.    B2B Marketing allows you to identify your core audience, cre...

Tom Otton, Create Group CEO, joins Phil Gripton to explain how he successfully built and grew an agency across the Middle East and North Africa.   Tom shares his insight on how to build a successful agency model that can navigate the challenges and maximise the opportunities presented in individual countries, and build lasting business relationships in nations where change is a constant.  

Growing your agency internationally isn’t easy but it’s vital to scale your business and build a global brand.  A real challenge is adapting to a different business-style. Countries like the US have different approaches to client-relations, reporting and budgets. You need to know how to speak their language.  To succeed you also have to prove the benefits of hiring your agency despite the potentia...

In this third episode of our Challenger series, Waypoint partner, Matt Lacey sits down with Luke Smith, founder and CEO of Croud. Luke reflects on Croud’s recent acquisition of social media agency, Born Social and talks about his ambitions for the business. Tune in to hear about Croud’s origins, an honest account of what it was like to secure private equity investment, as well as the ownership str...

Well-designed user journeys are essential to boost conversions rates, however, UX is often executed imperfectly, requiring a lot time and money on revisions. In fact, research has shown 50% of work on digital products is what’s known as ‘rework’. That equates to around $2.3bn of time on revisions.  Join us for our 11th episode of Waypointers where UserTesting’s Bruce Hunter and Phil Gripton discus...

Remote working has quickly enabled agencies to build an international workforce, but managing a culturally diverse team comes with a whole new set of challenges.  It can be hard to know where to go for guidance. Look no further!  For the last 20 years, Tom Otton, CEO of Dubai-based Create Group has been building a 200-person, culturally diverse agency and client base spread across the broader MENA...

Have you ever heard of Hopium? It could be what’s blocking your agency's success.   Listen to our latest Waypointers podcast episode where David Kean, Co-Developer of Catalyst2 discusses with Phil Gripton, Partner at Waypoint, about how Hopium can undermine your sales strategy. Hopium: (Noun. An obsessive sales / business development behaviour characterised by habitual episodes of unsubstanti...

The frequent changes to online paid advertising can be hard to navigate. Platforms like Google, Amazon and Meta regularly update their practices, which can be highly confusing to businesses. Frequent updates mean being an early adapter is essential to ensure budgets and resources are used effectively.  In this Waypointers episode, Dan Chorlton, Co-Founder and CEO of GOA Marketing discusses with Ph...

In the first of our longer form podcasts, we introduced a set of agencies that we call “Challengers” – if you want to catch up on that episode you can do so here.  In the latest instalment of our Challenger series, we are delighted to bring you an exclusive interview with Michael Birkin , the CEO of kyu , part of Hakuhodo DY Holdings. As the former group CEO of Interbrand and then CEO of Omnicom A...

Traditionally, agencies have marketed the services they offer through credentials and pitch decks which reel off the services they offer. But as clients become more sophisticated, agencies must adapt to become a strategic partner rather than simply a contracted service provider.  Making that mentality shift in agency sales teams will help agencies to scale and give them greater senior access with...

There is a cohort of ambitious agencies that is increasingly making waves in the marketing services world, collectively described as “challenger” groups. A diverse mix of agencies, what unites these businesses?  In this special deep-dive edition of Waypointers, Jim Houghton and Matt Lacey from Waypoint Partners discuss what it means to be a “challenger” agency, what makes them different, how they...

Just because an agency isn’t scaled doesn’t mean that its sales processes and growth strategy shouldn’t be professional and considered. Many smaller agencies find positioning to scale difficult, but it needn’t be.     Smaller agencies need to act big to be big. Professionalising the sales function will help agencies achieve scale. Evolved Search is a shining example of how overhauling the sales fu...

Agency exits can be tricky, particularly when you want to balance profitability with a socially conscious approach. In response, agencies are increasingly turning to employee ownership trusts (EOTs) which have more than doubled in number to almost 500 in the last 12 months, according to the Financial Times.  In this episode of Waypointers, Jamie Learmont and Jim Houghton from Waypoint Partners loo...

Host Martin Ward is joined by Phill Robinson from Boardwave to discuss what European tech companies can learn from their US-based counterparts to compete with Silicon Valley.  Hear about Phill's own experiences in the US and why he believes the solution is through creating effective networks within the European software industry.

Host Phil Gripton and guest David Kean discuss strategies to seize opportunities during a recession.  David Kean has decades of experience in business development and implementing growth actions during tough economic times.