The Other Agency confirms ST&MP merger deal
Last week The Drum broke the news that The Other Agency was merging with London's ST&MP. The Other Agency's Saul Peake today confirms the deal and outlines his plans to build the agency.
The Drum broke the news recently that Chester-based The Other Agency was in merger talks with ST&MP, but neither party could confirm the details of the merger that will see the new agency have offices in both Chester and Covent Garden, London.
The Other Agency, an Elite level member of MiNetwork, was founded in Chester around a decade ago by husband and wife team Saul and Suzi Peake. ST&MP was launched in 2003 and its directors are well known London creatives Richard Tennant and John Peake along with Robert Moore and Kevin West. The agency works with clients such as Neal’s Yard’s Remedies, M&S, Elizabeth Shaw and Thomas Cook.
Confirming the merger Saul Peake said: “We are merging because we’re both owned and run by creative. The new agency will deliver a complete design and advertising service: from brand consultation and logo identities through marketing strategy and planning to advertising campaign creation and design solutions from packaging to point-of-sale and digital communications.
“With a keen eye on the commercial benefits of our work we know that our own costs are attractive to clients because they don’t include supplemental charges for client service. Everyone in our agency is a creative, an ‘accountable creative’ – responsible for the delivery of their task or project including liaison with clients and suppliers. Working directly with the creatives means clients enjoy a more responsive and collaborative process. And without middlemen we’re a leaner organisation which means we’re more cost-effective. In fact, we believe client service should provide value for money at every turn extracting potential from creative and production budgets rather than squeezing additional fees from clients for an unnecessary level of administration.
“Whilst we believe fervently in planning and have strategic and media expertise within the broad team we can also access consumer knowledge across a wealth of sectors because of our years of experience and contacts. In fact, our company directors, all of whom are hands-on, have worked on seminal accounts and campaigns and we believe offer clients the chance to enjoy working first-hand with heavy-weight creatives. Clients who have already benefited from this working model include Amazon, Neals Yard Remedies, Tesco, Sisley, Diageo, Historic Royal Palaces, QVC and FindaProperty.com.
“This is not a foothold in London for The Other Agency or a chance to expand North for ST∓ both have established customer bases. This is an opportunity for a shared proposition – ‘accountable creativity’ – to be grown through innovation across two geographies.”
Through its MiNetwork Elite membership, well known Scottish ad man David Reid, has been appointed as Chairman of the new agency and he said: “I have been working with The Other Agency since last year after MiNetwork introduced us and when I met Saul and Suzi I really liked what they are all about, their ethics and their whole idea of running a creatively led agency that is accountable. At that time they talked to me about their intentions to grow the business and it is good to see that now coming together through this deal.
“Saul is a very strong and dynamic leader and his enthusiasm for the business is very infectious. That a business in Chester can merge with an agency in Covent Garden is a really great story for the North West region. As chairman I can bring the experience I had of running 1576 in Edinburgh and obviously I have both good and bad experiences to share with the management team to help them build a solid and stable business for the future.”