News - Karmarama

Karmarama awarded Platinum CPD accreditation
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Karmarama awarded Platinum CPD accreditation

We are thrilled to announce that we have won Gold CPD accreditation for the 8^thtime, making it another consecutive year that we have maintained the Platinum accreditation awarded by the IPA, placing us among the top 21 agencies to be ranked at this level! It is an exciting result for our HR team, and we are extremely proud to be recognised for our demonstration towards bettering and developing the people that live by our Good Works philosophy.

The objective of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is to recognise and celebrate the culture of development in order to better professionalism, and to build the reputation of the industry. In order to achieve Gold Accreditation, agencies must demonstrate their un-wavered investment in the professional and personal development of their employees, showing that CPD lies at the heart of the business.

Jo Harman, HR Director at Karmarama said ‘We are delighted that we’ve been recognised again by the IPA for the huge effort we put into developing our people. Investing in talent not only drives business success, but allows the opportunity for our unique culture at Karmarama to thrive.’

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who works tirelessly to design and implement development initiatives that work towards the success of the agency, and who work around the clock to pull together the annual CPD submission.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama Host International Women’s Day Panel with Guests from The Ideas Foundation
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Karmarama Host International Women’s Day Panel with Guests from The Ideas Foundation

Every year, International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It becomes a topic that seeks to unite everyone in the pursuit of gender parity and push for the awareness of social gaps. The celebration saw the rise of #PressforProgress, an international message that highlights the political and financial gender imbalance. This year, Karmarama decided to celebrate International Women’s Day by hosting a series of events that explored the topics and issues surrounding gender equality.

For our main event on Thursday the 8^th March, we opened our doors to a group of young women as part of the Ideas Foundation, a creative education project that aims to teach 13-19-year olds about the creative industry.

We invited these young women to listen to a panel of senior women from Karmarama talk about their experience entering the industry. The event hoped to encourage and support young women wanting to get involved in the creative sector as the panel shared their stories and advise.

One of the students spoke of her shock as Creative Director Imogen Tazzyman revealed that only 3% of women share her role in the industry, “Those words remained with me for the rest of the day.” Daniya Kayani, student at the University of West London wrote, “The experience I had there was incomparable to other agencies I had visited. I hadn’t the foggiest clue what I wanted to do once I had graduated. That’s how I felt until I walked through the doors of Karmarama. There was just something about Karmarama that made me feel like I was at home. Having been surrounded by so many interesting women who worked there was a brilliant experience that reminded me just how far women have come in advertising and yet how much further we have yet to go.”

After exploring the agency further, Daniya described Karmarama as her “dream company to work for” saying, “I was really sold now. The office was broad and full of creatives bringing adverts to life at their fingertips. This is exactly what I want to do.”

In addition to Thursday’s panel, Karmarama hosted several events including a Karma Sound Session by Jillian Jaqueline and a two-part Development Workshop hosted by Karmarama’s HR Director, Jo Harman. Driven by the research taken from the experiences of 127 successful women, the workshop explored Joan Williams and Rachel Dempsey’s book ‘What Works for Women at Work: Four Patterns Working Women Need to Know’. The sessions gave female staff the tools to tackle gender bias in the work-space and prevent it from impacting professional growth.

As the week came to a close, we took the opportunity to celebrate the female talent across Karmarama and the inclusivity that the agency offers.

To read Daniya Kayani’s full blog click here.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Iceland, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama ranked 21st in Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For
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Karmarama ranked 21st in Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For

Karmarama has again been named a top Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, ranked 21st in the 2018 league, which was announced yesterday evening at the awards ceremony at Battersea Evolution.

“We are extremely proud to announce our place in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For – our best position to date,”, said Ben Bilboul, CEO, Karmarama “This makes us the highest ranking communications agency in the UK for the second consecutive year”.

Karmarama also won a special award for Learning and Development for its Dreamcatcher initiative. Dreamcatcher involves staff sending in a dream to the Dreamcatcher team, who select a winner that receives £1000 and a week off to make it happen. Dreamcatcher began as a way to encourage staff at the agency to experience something new and ideally learn something from it. In 2017, the agency had two winners: designer, Ryan Hamilton, who after teaching himself guitar and playing at a series of open mic nights, wanted to travel to Nashville for a week of intensive guitar lessons with his hero. The second winner this year was a trio across the agency; Zahra Mair, Vicki Murfitt and Demi Osman, who wanted to take Good Karma to India on a 1000km race trip in a Karmarama branded tuktuk. They are using the initiative to fundraise for the Karmarama charity of the year, Shelter From The Storm.

Karmarama has featured in The Sunday Times Best Companies lists six times, consecutively over the last four years.

“We believe our culture is what makes Karmarama so special, and are over the moon to have this recognised in the awards for another year,” continues Bilboul.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama launch latest recruitment campaign for The British Army
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Karmarama launch latest recruitment campaign for The British Army

The British Army has launched the latest recruitment campaign to give aspiring recruits the belief and confidence that they can thrive in the Army no matter who they are, or where they come from.

The campaign builds on last year’s This Is Belonging campaign – showing all recruits are welcome and supported in the Army.

The TV spots Prayer, Pull Up, Voice, Letter and Buckaroo tells the powerful stories of different soldiers who for different reasons, overcome misconceptions that they wouldn’t fit in. Viewers can then explore the soldiers’ stories in more detail through long-form animations online narrated in the soldiers’ own words.

Nik Studzinski, Chief Creative Officer at Karmarama, said “We loved working with real soldiers to create an authentic and powerful campaign which brings to life what it means to belong in the modern British Army today.”

The campaign was created by creative agency Karmarama, and builds on the multi-award-winning This is Belonging recruitment drive in 2017 delivered a significant uplift in total application volumes.

The British Army supports people in achieving their personal and professional goals, whether it’s conquering a pull up or taking on a leadership role. The Army is recruiting and there is a breadth of roles and opportunities available in both the Regular Army and Army Reserve, from helicopter pilot to nurse, from engineer to IT specialist. As part of life in the British Army, lifelong friendship bonds are formed and incredible challenges are overcome to achieve worthwhile results, for example saving lives by providing assistance on humanitarian or peacekeeping missions at home or abroad.

The films were directed by Frederic Planchon and Si & Ad through Academy Films and the animations were produced by We Are Royale.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Iceland, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama win DMA Grand Prix for second consecutive year
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Karmarama wins Best Public Service Campaign at the Campaign BIG Awards
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Karmarama wins Gold in Best Use of Data and Insight at the International Content Marketing Awards
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Karmarama host Karma Sound Session in aid of Shelter From The Storm
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Karmarama appointed lead creative agency for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
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Karmarama appointed lead creative agency for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Karmarama has been appointed as lead creative agency for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, following a series of chemistry meetings.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home called the pitch after the emergence of an increasingly harder re-homing market, encouraging them to review their marketing activity as part of the longer term strategy for the charity. They will be working with the agencies to dispel misconceptions about rescue animals, and promote the benefits of rehoming a Battersea dog or cat.

Karamarama will begin working with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home immediately with a rehoming campaign launching mid-October 2017 across TV, digital and social and brand work launching in January 2018.

Sarah Matthews, Director of Marketing & Commercial at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home said “With this new appointment we have found a genuine partnership. Together, we’re looking forward to helping more of our animals find happy, loving homes.”

Nik Studzinski, Chief Creative Officer at Karmarama said “Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is an iconic British institution. They do amazing work preparing dogs and cats for rehoming and matching them to the right people. It’s time for us to shine a light on the amazing work they do.”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Iceland, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama launch global Creative Exchange Programme with Accenture Interactive agencies
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Karmarama launch global Creative Exchange Programme with Accenture Interactive agencies

Karmarama are delighted to announce the launch of their global Creative Exchange Programme. The Programme is a brilliant opportunity for our creatives to experience a period of time working in another country. It will give them an opportunity to see how things are done in another culture and in the context of being part of the Accenture Interactive family.

At Karmarama, we strongly believe that learning comes from doing and from experiences, rather than sitting in a classroom, particularly for Creatives. Being part of Accenture Interactive gives our people the chance to experience creativity in an international dimension which they can bring back to their work at the end of the programme.

The exchange programme will consist of 4 worldwide exchange opportunities a year, with other agencies that are part of the wider Accenture Interactive group.

For the first trip, two of our creative teams travelled to Sydney and Sao Paulo, to begin work at The Monkeys & Maud and Accenture Interactive’s Creative agency in Brazil. Simultaneously, Karmarama have welcomed a team from Sydney to our London office.

Nik Studzinski, our Chief Creative Officer said about the programme: “At Karmarama we have always believed that culture is a huge part of helping creativity thrive. Now part of the Accenture Interactive family, the relationship between creativity and culture remains as important as ever. Having already started to collaborate on a variety of brands and briefs with the wider group of creative agencies, the exchange programme seemed a no-brainer. It’s the best way to get to know each other better and understand how we all work. We have more exchanges planned for the future and, speaking from personal experience, I’m convinced it will lead to creatives who have a bigger and better perspective on the needs of our clients around the World. ”

Daniel Leppanen and Rachel Holding, the team in Sao Paolo said “When we were asked to work in Brazil for a month, of course we said yes. Experiencing life as a creative at the other side of the world is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We’ve been here two days and already learned loads about the Brazilian ad industry and how it differs to the UK. And the fact that it’s winter here and still 27 degrees? Well, I guess we’ll struggle through.” Daniel and Rachel’s trip can be followed at their blog www.dontdrinkthetapwater.com

Meigan Brown and Tobias Owen, the team in Sydney “We’re off riding kangaroos to work, wearing thongs to the office and learning lots to bring back from our sister agency The Monkeys in Sydney. They’ve got a rather swanky shelf of awards and a very nice toaster so we’re cramming our heads with tips on being provocative, great ideas from the land down under, new ways of going about briefs and our mouths full of toast.” You can follow Meigan and Tobias’ trip on Instagram at @kangarama

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Iceland, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama wins three BIMA awards including Advance Award for Impact
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Karmarama host Krufts Dog Show for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
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Karmarama host Krufts Dog Show for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Friday 9.30am. The morning after the night before. Mickey walked in to the office, looking particularly hairy. Poppy, late in, came bounding in on four legs. Oscar, unshaved, sat down at the desk, his whiskers sniffing the ground.

In celebration of National Dog Day, 26^th August 2017, Karmarama took its love for dogs to new heights and hosted what could be the first of its kind – an office-based Krufts competition.

Karmarama’s dog owners brought their pawsome pooches into work on the last summer half day, and entered them in to one or more of five classes. Each entry into a category was £5 and all proceeds went to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home. Rosettes and pride could be won in the likes of:

Most like owner

Do you and your pooch have the same luscious golden locks? Or perhaps similar whiskers? Whatever the look, enter your doppelgänger dog for a reward.

Best fancy dress

Is your canine pal catwalk ready? If so, join them up to the ‘best fancy dress’ category for some fashion fun.

Best trick

Do you have the next Dog Genius? Enrol your clever pup into the ‘best trick’ category if you think you can handle the pressure.

Waggiest tail

Happy dogs = happy world. Enter your dog in our ‘waggiest tail’ category and get them to shake some serious booty for a prize.

Best dog art

Bring your pet over to our Kraft’s Korner and get artsy, or bring in your finest canine portrait. Whoever creates the best pawsterpeice gets a prize.

Suffice to say, competitive natures blossomed as the humans fought it out on the stage – smiles and high-pitched encouragement was rife as owners tried to make their dog’s tail wag the most, dog biscuits were given in abundance to inspire their pooch’s best tricks, and artistic dreams were unlocked as hands held paws to create fine art.

Judged by Joe Mateo, the creative manager at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, along with our managing partner Hannah Matthews, and our Head of human Talent, Annabel Deacon, the event was a huge success. The whole office was beaming ear to ear. And to top it all off, we managed to raise hundreds of pounds for an incredibly important charity.

Here’s to an annual Krufts event!

Karmarama have been appointed to work with fashion retailer Uniqlo
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Karmarama have been appointed to work with fashion retailer Uniqlo

Karmarama are pleased to be working with Uniqlo, having been appointed to work with the fashion retailer across Europe on seasonal campaigns and store launches.

The agency has developed a summer campaign for their collection, which will run in European and US markets across advertising and in-store channels. Unlike many of their competitors, Uniqlo have chosen not to hold a large summer stock sale, instead focusing on their summer range to drive traffic instore.

Over the last 68 years, the Uniqlo brand has built a reputation for their functional Winter products, through textile innovations such as Ultra-Light Down and Heat-Tech. The new summer campaign aims to break down the perception that the brand is only appropriate for winter, and encourages people to build their wardrobe with Uniqlo’s versatile Summer 2017 range.

The ‘Build your Summer’ campaign, Karmarama’s first work for Uniqlo, highlights the range and quality of Uniqlo’s Summer clothing. The work communicates a liberating message that has resonated with shoppers: you can build your summer with Uniqlo, whoever you are, whatever you’re doing, and wherever you’re going.

Ben Cook, Marketing and PR at Uniqlo Europe said “The ‘Build your Summer’ campaign has been an important step change for our business and we’re looking forward to working with Karmarama on future projects.”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Iceland, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama champion diversity in new CBeebies Campaign
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Karmarama wins Campaign of The Year at Recruitment Marketing Awards
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Karmarama launch British Army rainbow camo cream for Pride London 2017
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Karmarama launch British Army rainbow camo cream for Pride London 2017

As part of our ‘This Is Belonging’ Campaign, we launched a Pride rainbow camo cream for The Army. The activation subverts the khaki camouflage colours soldiers use to keep hidden, swapping these for the celebratory rainbow boldness of Pride. As well as creating the camo cream itself, the campaign is running across social and outdoor posters.

Sgt Guy Lowe-Barrow, Secretary of Army LGBT Forum and the Army BAME Network: “We’re proud to be recognised as a top LGBT employer and this campaign is built on a belief that diversity makes us stronger and more effective. We wanted to reflect the participation of so many of our personnel this weekend and demonstrate the diversity we encourage in the Armed Forces.”

Adam Kean, Executive Creative Director at Karmarama said: “The modern Army is proud of its LGBT+ soldiers and we wanted to celebrate that. Camo cream is all about hiding and blending in, but this is a time for standing out and standing proud. So we’re handing out over a thousand rainbow camo creams at the parade, and creating an advertising campaign to support this.”

The campaign was a huge success, selling out within hours at the Pride March 2017 and featuring in Campaign’s best campaigns of Pride 2017 and The Drum’s Ad of the Day on Friday, before the festivities at the weekend.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama wins YouTube Works for Brands award for Unibet content series
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Karmarama awarded Platinum CPD accreditation
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Karmarama awarded Platinum CPD accreditation

We are delighted to announce that we have won Gold CPD accreditation for the 5^th time. It’s our 3^rd consecutive year of winning and we are so proud that we have maintained the Platinum accreditation awarded by the IPA. Being one of only twenty Platinum agencies is recognition of the huge effort and investment we put into the development of our most important asset, our people.

The objective of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is to professionalise the industry and introduce core best practice including appraisals, inductions and learning and development for employees year in, year out. To achieve Gold accreditation, member agencies are required to demonstrate the effectiveness of their training and development programme; that it is not merely an add-on to operations but lies at the heart of their business, fuelling commercial success.

Judges of the awards said of our achievement “Karmarama could see change on the horizon, and used CPD effectively and thoughtfully to prepare for it. Impressive.”

Jo Harman, our Head of HR said “To be recognised by the IPA for our investment in development initiatives for our colleagues makes us extremely proud. As a creatively led businesses, it’s our people that make us the outstanding business that we are today and CPD plays a huge role in making them the very best that they can be.”

Thank you and congratulations to our HR team who work extremely hard to design and implement development initiatives that are truly linked to the creative and commercial success of our agency and who work tirelessly to pull together the annual CPD submission.

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2017. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Halfords appoints Karmarama as lead creative agency on £13 million account
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Halfords appoints Karmarama as lead creative agency on £13 million account

Following a four-way competitive pitch run by the AAR, Halfords has appointed Karmarama as its lead creative agency.

Halfords tasked agencies with producing an integrated creative platform that uses customer data and digital channels to expand on their current brand positioning ‘For Life’s Journeys’. Karmarama’s first task is to produce creative work that will drive penetration and market share for the brand in the UK.

Karmarama fought off competition from FCB inferno, Iris and JWT for the £13m account. The incumbent, Mother, chose not to take part in the process.

Karen Bellairs, Chief Customer Officer at Halfords, said of the appointment: “We are delighted with the strategic and creative work that Karmarama delivered throughout the process. They acknowledged our business need for a truly integrated approach to our brand communications and demonstrated their ability to deliver work that will create impact and engagement across all communications channels.”

Ben Bilboul, CEO of Karmarama, said: “Delivering big creative ideas that connect the many touchpoints of modern customer experience is what Karmarama does best. We’re over the moon that the Halfords team shares our vision and we can’t wait to start working with them.”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama’s best bits from SXSW 2017
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Karmarama best communications agency in Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2017
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Karmarama work selected to appear on Creative Review cover
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Mondelez appoint Karmarama as lead Pan-European creative agency for Philadelphia
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Mondelez appoint Karmarama as lead Pan-European creative agency for Philadelphia

Philadelphia, the Mondelez power brand and category leader, has appointed Karmarama as their new lead creative agency across Europe, following a competitive pitch at the end of last year.

Philadelphia tasked agencies to create a new strategic big brand idea that could run across Europe, including lead markets of Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain. Successful Karmarama has started working with the brand to build the long-term strategy and communications platform for Philadelphia that will be brought to life across all communication channels within 2017.

Zoë Cashin-Howe, Philadelphia Equity Marketing Manger said “Karmarama really impressed us with their strategic agility, showing how they understood our brand and opportunities in a short space of time. They gave us confidence through their fresh thinking approach to a compelling communications platform which could explode into powerful creative working across multiple countries and cultures. We are really looking forward to partnering with Karmarama going forward”

Jon Wilkins, Executive Chairman at Karmarama said of the appointment “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with one of the world’s leading global brands across multiple markets to offer the best modern creative work throughout the customer experience”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama wins Grand Prix and 4 Golds at DMA Awards for Unibet and DFS
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Karmarama win bronze and silver IPA Effectiveness Awards
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Mike Ashley, Rotten Apples, Jenga And The Laws Of Karma
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Mike Ashley, Rotten Apples, Jenga And The Laws Of Karma

By Jon Wilkins, Chairman Karmarama

I was playing Jenga with my kids at the weekend. To say it was taxing and frustrating – as well as being damn right difficult – is an understatement. You think you’ve got it under control, then everything falls apart around you. In some ways for kids, playing Jenga is great preparation for life. It’s full of surprises, ups and downs, but through skill, craft and care, you can plot a happy course through it.

As a guy working with lots of businesses and brands (two words that to be honest I’ve now realised are interchangeable), I could also see lessons from Jenga jumping out at me.

Firstly, you’re only as strong as your weakest link, and that weak link can often have way more effect that you first suspect. Apple, a company any brand and tech guy reveres, have been accused this week of bad practices inside the company

Everyone is talking after dozens of Apple employee emails were leaked, alleging that the company can have a “toxic” and sexist work environment.

It may well be that problem of a “toxic” workplace with endemic sexism and bad attitudes towards mental health is widespread in other companies, if indeed, that it is the case at Apple. The tech giant insists: “Apple is committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect” and there’s no evidence that Apple’s workplace culture is worse than its competitors. It could be nothing, it could be something – I’m not here to judge (yet) but it’s big news. Big news beyond the business pages and the timing is not going to help the imminent launch of the iPhone 7.

Any business that wants to be successful in the long term and not just chase short term profit needs to think about its values. You can do well by doing the right thing. Worse you can risk damaging the business or brand you’ve worked so hard to carefully craft/build, by neglecting to have strong values and culture internally.

Values and culture are some of the most important jenga blocks in the tower of business.

You need to ensure sure that you have values that your employees are clear about and processes in place to root out bad apples from your business and live this from the top down.

It also follows last month’s decision by the European Commission to recover 13billion Euros – plus interest – for Apple’s alleged unpaid taxes in Ireland.

And Apple isn’t the only big business under scrutiny at the moment either.

The EU are now looking into the tax affairs of Google, Amazon, McDonald’s and Starbucks.

That in turn comes as Sports Direct has agreed to an independent review into the way it treats its workers.

MPs described the company’s warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, as “a Victorian workhouse” after a Guardian investigation revealed a ‘climate of fear’ amongst employees, all mostly on low pay and zero hours contracts.

Mike Ashley, the company’s founder and deputy chairman, says he had “taken his eye off the ball” and that the problems were down to a few “rotten apples,” but has agreed to an independent review into practices at the business.

Today (Friday 23 Sept), Ashley became CEO after former head Dave Forsey stepped down after a report commissioned by the company found Forsey had failed to tell the board about some of the issues at Shirebrook.

Secondly, it makes me think of karma. Doing the right thing. Within karmic principles, there is a foundational belief that what goes around comes around.

If you cut corners, rush things, don’t recognise that your actions and behaviours are consequential then really bad shit can happen.

As the saying goes ‘you only get one chance to lose your integrity’.

Sports Direct sits at the other end of the corporate spectrum to Apple in many ways but their continued plight and maelstrom of negativity commenced when their owner started cutting corners, chancing his arm, exploiting loop holes, and not being generous in spirit.

I already know that my kids could beat Mike Ashley at Jenga as they are learning to appreciate that life is an interconnected experience. You are as strong as your weakest link and that doing the wrong thing , however disconnected from your business, brand or product will always have consequences. It’s time to embrace a more humane style of capitalism in big business – if only for karma’s sake…

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Just Eat appoints Karmarama as lead creative agency
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Just Eat appoints Karmarama as lead creative agency

Just Eat, the world’s leading online and mobile food ordering and delivery service, has appointed Karmarama as its lead creative agency in the UK. The agency appointment follows a competitive pitch.

Just Eat has briefed Karmarama to evolve and elevate the brand as it gears up for its next phase of growth and to reaffirm the brand’s position as leader in the food delivery category. Just Eat is a FTSE 250 listed company and currently has over 13.5m active users in the UK, its largest market.

The agency’s first task is to define the ongoing marketing communications strategy and to develop a new creative campaign platform which will be brought to life across all channels including TV, print, radio and digital, targeting new and existing customers. Karmarama will also create data-driven outdoor and digital campaigns and engage Just Eat’s network of 27,000 UK restaurant partners.

Ben Carter, UK Marketing Director at Just Eat said:

“Our marketing activity to date has been hugely successful in driving awareness of the brand and emphasising our leadership in food delivery. It’s now the right time to evolve our approach to reflect our significant business ambitions. Karmarama’s progressive thinking and non-traditional approach makes them the perfect partner for us to help meet this objective.”

Ben Bilboul, CEO at Karmarama said:

“Just Eat is a fascinating business success story in the UK that continues to deliver great results and satisfy consumers’ ever-diversifying needs for choice of food. We’re honoured to be working with the team to unleash the huge potential of the brand as it gears up for its next phase of growth.”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.

Karmarama launches new banking service ‘B’ with integrated campaign
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Karmarama launches new banking service ‘B’ with integrated campaign

We are very excited to reveal our launch campaign for Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank’s new digital banking service B. The campaign includes work from a range of disciplines including TV, direct response, content, online, digital, CRM, DM, PR, staff engagement and social.

The revolutionary new service, launched by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, which feels more like a lifestyle app than a banking app, uses AI to analyse spending habits to deliver tailored financial insights. Greater control, transparency and insights on spending and saving allow customers freedom from money worries and free to be all they can be. The name ‘B’ plays on the concept of freedom – to ‘be’ – capturing the essence of the service as a tool for being in control of your money, being pioneering, being creative and being inspirational.

As well as the launch campaign, we have created explanatory demo content on the site and data-driven content, which has been created and served to different segments, to identify moments at which customers are making large financial decisions such as planning a wedding.

Helen Page, Propositions and Marketing Director, at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, said:

“We wanted our new banking service to be built around customers, to help them enjoy their money and feel more in control of their lives. Karmarama have been a core part of our team, developing the strategy, purpose and positioning for our new brand. The big idea for the communications, created by Karmarama, has allowed us to build a truly integrated multi-channel launch campaign; whilst The Partners did an excellent job in helping us to create an approachable brand identity that puts the user at the very heart of the experience.”

James Denton-Clark, Managing Director at Karmarama added:

“Being part of the launch of a new banking brand has been incredibly exciting. We share a vision with our clients at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank to solve real problems using cutting edge creativity and technology as well as good old fashioned gusto”.

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Karmarama win RAR strategic thinking award!
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Plusnet consolidates CRM work to Karmarama
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Karmarama awarded Platinum CPD accreditation!
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Our SXSW Highlights
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Karmarama do Britain’s Biggest Breakfast
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Karmarama wins pitch for Honda UK idents
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Confused.com awards £40million advertising account to Karmarama
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Karmarama launches bold new campaign for the Army
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Karmarama launches bold new campaign for the Army

In a bold move to recruit more soldiers, challenge stereotypes, and broaden its appeal to young people, Karmarama has created a new campaign the Army to attract Generation Z by showing them how they can become better versions of themselves with an Army career.

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A fully integrated ‘Become A Better You’ campaign created by Karmarama with Capita, is digitally led and supported by TV, radio, outdoor, press, social and VOD. In a shift to a more thought-provoking strategy and a first for the Army, the campaign seeks to grab the attention of 16 to 24 year olds with the strapline: ‘Don’t join the Army, don’t become a better you’.

The campaign uses data-driven social content featuring real soldiers, to deliver personalised messaging across Facebook and YouTube. The content is also hosted on a campaign hub which links directly through the eCRM programme that Karmarama has created for the campaign. The TV adverts themselves will not feature soldiers, weapons or scenes of combat.

Research commissioned by the Army for the campaign found that 16 to 24 year olds fear that they face a more uncertain future than their parents and they will have to work harder in life to achieve their goals (90%), despite this uncertainty they are optimistic and ambitious, with nearly half (49%) wanting to become better versions of themselves.

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General Chris Tickell, General Officer Commanding, Army Recruiting and Training Division, said:

“It was clear from our research that we needed to transform the way in which we communicate in order to appeal to young people more effectively.

“We have deliberately designed a bold, new recruitment campaign that uses reverse psychology and a thought-provoking approach. There are no soldiers, no guns and no combat. The campaign taps into young people’s desire to become better versions of themselves and to communicate to them and their influencers the impressive range of opportunities that the Army has to offer.”

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Nik Studzinski, Chief Creative Officer at Karmarama, added:

“The Army has put the potential recruit at the centre of its advertising, as it aims to broaden consideration of the force as a career to a wider group of 16-24 year olds. The key message is that there is no better way to become a better you than in the Army.”

Cancer Research UK launch their 2016 Dryathlon campaign
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Cancer Research UK launch their 2016 Dryathlon campaign

Dryathlon 2016 sees a new advertising campaign created by Karmarama, which will appear across TV, radio, digital and social media. A specially written song alongside animation will be used across the channels. Echoing the fun and light-hearted tone of Dryathlon, the new campaign will encourage Dryathletes to still have a good time in January and be proud of being sober, positioning not drinking for a month as simply removing one vice temporarily from their life. There is still ample opportunity for fun all whilst raising money to help beat cancer!

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Anthony Newman, director of marketing at Cancer Research UK said: “Dryathlon is back and we want it to be our biggest and best yet. Dryathlon is the original campaign that challenges the nation to put down their pints. Since 2013, it has raised over £17million for our work to beat cancer sooner – so the pressure is on for a brilliant fourth year in 2016. To carry on this success it’s essential Dryathlon continues to innovate and appeal, and I believe the new campaign will achieve this. It feels fresh, fun and builds on what we’ve learnt from previous campaigns, highlighting our message that Dryathlon is not about staying in but getting out and enjoying yourself. Dryathletes may have quit drinking for a month but can still have a great time all whilst raising money for Cancer Research UK’s life saving research.”

Karmarama, part of Accenture Interactive, is one of the UK’s most progressive creative agencies. It is one of the most effective advertising agencies in the UK, winning IPA Effectiveness awards in 2016 for its work with Plusnet and Costa and the DMA Grand Prix for its Unibet activity. It was listed again in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2016. The agency is known for its ability to blend creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers through Connected Creativity. It currently works with clients including the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.