8 days and counting…

On Wednesday 30th September 2015, we will be closing our doors in London for good. andSoMe the agency will be no more. We’ll be gone but hopefully not forgotten.

Myself and Manda are stepping back. Back to the time to when we first began this incredible journey as and advertising almost 18 years ago in 1998.

You see, we never wanted to get big. Or sell out. Or be like everyone else.

We wanted to enjoy what we did. And we have. Many times over. The sense of being your own boss. Making decisions that are yours alone. It’s feeling like no other. And as a business we have achieved so much. And stood for so much more.

We are proud not just for our achievements workwise (there will be more about those in our very final andSoMe blog next week) but how we have been as an agency.

We were never hierarchical from the start . Everyone has multi-tasked from the beginning. And gained multiple skills in the end.

There were never departments, just a room of people. Always, in every one of the 5 offices we’ve lived in.

The agency evolved organically. From print and press ads through to digital and web , then web and video to, ultimately, social and content . No testing the waters. No waiting. Early adopting. Taking a ‘risk’. Doing something we believed in.

We have always done everything ourselves. Created, written, produced, developed, built, filmed, recorded, edited and community managed in the agency. By our wonderful andSoMe people.

We very rarely pitched in all these years, less than a handful of times. We never liked it, didn’t think it was the best way, so why do it. Getting to know people/businesses was the mantra.

Word of mouth was our best marketing, not cold calling (or emailing as is the fashion these days).

We never lost one client because of what we did, or didn’t do. We’re so proud of that.

(Although we have told a few where to go. Not through arrogance, but because if the relationship wasn’t right, the results never would have been.)

Even when clients decided to ‘review’ for other reasons, we never, never, ever re-pitched.

And although we’ve been at the vanguard of social media for more years than most, we didn’t feel the need to ever jump on the breakfast/seminar/event bandwagon to ‘promote’ ourselves.

We much preferred the doing, to just talking about doing.

And we always, always, always went above and beyond. Our drive was never the budget or the project plan. If something needed doing to make it better, it was.

And for the past 6+ years the way we have done ‘social’ is, was and probably always will be, a world away from the norm…

So from October 1st 2015, Manda and I will still be around. Keeping our strategic heads and hands in. With some project consultancy here. A spot of community management there. Our love for what we do and social media won’t be going anywhere. It’ll just be a bit less full-on and day-to-day than it has been. After almost 18 years, with the near-on 24/7 of the last 7, we think it’s something we’re due.

Thank you

Mark and Manda