Scottish Design Consultancy of the Year
In the annual tussle that is the Scottish Design Consultancy of the Year, one consultancy performed consistently well across the main polls and collected the top prize in Glasgow. So, ladies and gentlemen can we all rise for the winners, Stand.
This year’s Scottish Design Lunch was held at private members club 29 in Glasgow and around 80 members of the design profession were in attendance to see Stand lift the crown after the consultancy had scored consistently high in three of the four main polls.
Stuart Gilmour of Stand was there to collect the prize and also did a short video interview, which can be seen here.
FINANCIAL POLL (Winner - Threebrand)
Last year’s winner - Third Eye Design (now Marque)
The Financial Poll was drawn up following the submission of detailed financial results, the most significant facts garnered from these were: design turnover, design turnover increase, design fee income increase, revenue per design staff and revenue per design client.
Fee income increase results made for interesting reading in the current climate with only two design agencies showing any kind of decrease, and only a one per cent decrease at that.
Turnover increase similarly showed few casualties – less than one fifth of polled agencies reporting a drop in income, with a five percent drop being the largest of these.
Four agencies also showed a decrease in design clients over the 12 months charted, but again alarm bells are unwarranted as the overall number of design clients across all the polled agencies was significantly higher for 2008 than for 2007.
Interesting findings from the financial research:
• Average number of clients was 36, which is an increase of 12.5% on last year’s 32
• Average turnover per designer is £115k, which is down 20% on last year’s £143k
• Average turnover per client is £29k, which is up 11.5% on last year’s £26k
• Average number of qualified designers per agency is 10, compared to six last year
• Average design turnover now sits at £1.5m
• Average design fee income is just over £1m
• We have also seen an income increase of 32.2%
• With a turnover increase of 28.4%
Also, of the 21 agencies supplying financial details:
• 90% achieved design fee growth year on year
• 81% reported design turnover increase
• 43% had design turnover of over £1m
• 57% increased number of clients
• 24% had same number of clients
• 19% decreased number of clients
• combined design turnover generated is £30m
• combined design fee income generated is £22m
CLIENT SATISFACTION POLL
(Winner - Various)
During the research The Drum contacted clients and asked them to rate the design agencies they deal with across a variety of criteria. 110 clients answered the survey in full and rated the agencies they work with in areas of account handling, creativity, strategic thinking, value for money and overall professionalism.
Marketing spend seems to have taken a hit with only 16 per cent of clients polled reporting a marketing spend of over £500k. Last year saw this number at 25 percent. Mid-range spend, £50k-500k, has also dropped with 37 per cent of clients indicating themselves to be in this category as opposed to last year’s 45 per cent.
While under £50k marketing spend might be more common, the fact that the average number of design clients per agency has risen 12.5 per cent to 36, would suggest that agencies are bringing onboard more clients to supplement the drop in spend.
From the poll, creativity and professionalism were rated highest by the respondents, and across the board client satisfaction was high – an average score of 8.9 out of 10 was evident.
Of the individual areas polled, it was noted by clients that strategic thinking was seen as the area most lacking, while overall professionalism was extensively seen as the strongest offering of our design agencies – an impressive 9.2 out of 10 average returned.
CREATIVE POLL
(Winner - Contagious)
A good indicator of a design agency’s success is undoubtedly their creative output and entrants were asked to submit a portfolio of work to be judged by a panel that this year consisted of high profile clients.
The judging was close, however, ten agencies stood out above the others, with Edinburgh’s Contagious winning for a portfolio that included work for clients Michelin Star winning restaurant The Kitchin, Dumfries and Galloway Council, whisky brand Auchentoshan, Beefeater Gin and Glasgow Housing Association – the latter two were also selected as the best individual pieces of work by the judges.
PEER POLL
(Winner - Marque)
Which agency do you admire most in the industry? Who are you particularly proud of? Who do you see as the the most creative and the most financially sound? Who would you be worried about losing jealous staff too? And who does the best work for the best clients?
As part of the research The Drum polled the top figures at design agencies across Scotland asking just that.
This year, tipping a hat to some of the great work that is being done across the country, a number of agencies were put forward by the respondents, including: Studio LR, Elmwood, Graven Images, Navyblue, Contagious, Hookson, ISO Design, Whitespace, Tsuko, Breeze, Teviot, 442, David Kelly, Graphic Partners, Line, Matthew Ball Design, Multiply, Primitive, Skratch Design, Suisse, Tayburn and Baseline.
However, we have compiled a list of the top five agencies, (in reverse order) Graphical House and D8; Stand; Good Creative; and, topping the poll this year (once again) is Marque.
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
(Winner - Campbell Laird, Threebrand)
Last year’s MD of the Year Good Creative’s Keith Forbes; Marque’s Mark Noe; Stand’s Stuart Gilmour and Tayburn’s Simon Farrell all attracted a number of votes from the industry this year in the MD of the Year category. However, one individual was judged to be ahead of the pack.
Since its launch in 2004 his agency has worked across a range of global brand and packaging projects for the likes of Baxter’s, Findus, Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys, Dobbies and Philips.
This year has seen his agency settle into its Water of Leith-based boat, performing well financially (rising from 12th to 1st in the financial poll), maintaining a considered creative output and continuing to work heavily in the global design market – all under the watchful eye of MD Campbell Laird.
ONES TO WATCH
(Joint winners - Whitespace and Kindle)
Following the trend set last year, when Tayburn was nominated as the agency to watch following it’s successful MBO, this year’s One To Watch is, once again, a well-established firm. Or rather, two well-established firms, with two Edinburgh-based agencies being nominated for the title.
One, like Tayburn, has recently completed an MBO. The other is set to benefit from the spotlight of being appointed to one of Scotland’s highest profile pieces of business.
Late last year saw Whitespace undergo an MBO that saw co-founders Don Galloway and Carol Coulter leave the business that they launched in 1997 with Russell Stout. Stout, alongside Iain Valentine, Emma Jardine and Phillip Lockwood-Holmes, will now look to push the business forward, and the industry seems keen to see how it will progress.
Elsewhere, having created some great work in recent years for a range of clients, Kindle was one of the successful firms to make it onto the Scottish Government’s newly created design roster, so expect to see a lot more from this talented studio in future months.