Hard times close Talisman as Cogent takes hit
Talisman Marketing, the Birmingham-based agency, has confirmed that it has gone into voluntary liquidation, while Cogent Elliott has made a tranche of staff redundant.
Talisman, which was founded by Emma Wilkinson, has closed following continued client budget cuts and a slowing down of the market.
Wilkinson confirmed that her decision was made because business became “increasingly difficult for middle-sized agencies with large overheads”.
She said: “We’ve noticed that clients are becoming more and more price-led with their marketing budgets. It used to be that clients would look for the right creative people before looking at cost. It is a shame and I am very sad about the closure, but there just wasn’t a future for the middle-sized agencies.”
Wilkinson is now taking a little time off but has plans to freelance for a number of ex-Talisman clients when the time is right.
And Meriden-based Cogent Elliott has confirmed that it has made half-a-dozen of its staff redundant.
Strategy partner for the agency, Mike Raynor, put the decision down to “squeezed margins” and stated that each department had lost one or two staff.