Superson... for inventing the new school: The Drum editorial team’s best of 2020
It’s that time again, when we look back at the agencies, the brands, the organizations, movements and trends that have shaped the past year. In 2020 – a year so many of us would like to forget – our industry of problem solvers proved time and again that they have what it takes to muck in, help out, ask questions, shape cultures and change the world. It is them that we celebrate in our New Year Honors.
The ‘silent drive-through’ drove a 45% increase in app downloads
In a year that will undoubtedly challenge the agency model and force a lot of very talented people into a more flexible, freelance working situation, Finnish agency network Superson has a model that should thrive.
The agency – founded in Helsinki with an office in Singapore – has a model with specialisms at its core but with built-in flexibility. It does this by having a team of ‘client partners’, almost all with client-side history in their specialist areas who then build teams of flexible (and often freelance) specialists around client problems. The agency believes that in allowing freelancers to work in this way, they can focus on their superpowers and in-turn create faster, agile and more effective work for clients.
Superson counts Burger King, Peroni and Speedo among its clients, as well as many more local brands from the European and Asian markets. For Burger King, the agency devised a campaign that played to the stereotype that Finns don’t do small talk, prompting them to therefore use an app to order. The ‘silent drive-through’ drove a 45% increase in app downloads.
According to the agency’s website, the intention of this model also protects equality. It claims: “We are Superson. The inventors of new school. The rebels of marketing communications and the defenders of all kinds of equality. This is the new world order.”
Many agency groups are trying new ways of working and the jury is still out as to whether Superson has stumbled on the right one. But, as the agency says, this is the new world order.
We’ll be celebrating all our favorite things about 2020 on thedrum.com between now and early January. Keep an eye on our New Year Honors hub to read more.