It’s been almost one year since the Digital Radish team was punching the air, deliriously celebrating our agency’s biggest milestone so far: the much-sought-after crown of Agency of the Year at the B2B Marketing Awards.
And while we are of course saddened for such a gilded chapter in our history to be drawing to a close, the prevailing feeling is one of satisfaction and excitement. Satisfaction at the opportunities the award has afforded us over the last year, and excitement about how it has set us up for the future.
So even though we are nominated for the award again in 2022 (results this Wednesday! Fingers crossed!), we feel like now is the perfect moment to reflect on the last year, and the new and exciting directions winning Agency of the Year has taken us in. As you’ll see, it’s been quite the ride…
A year for meaningful experiences
Last year, we won Agency of the Year for redefining what success meant for the business; prioritising happiness over profits. So the big question then was, what’s next?
We considered what it meant to become the agency, not just of the year, but of the future, and realised that for us, this meant creating genuinely meaningful and innovative experiences, for employees, clients and the wider community.
This idea of ‘meaningful experiences’ has guided us over the last year, helping us to shake up strategic ABM so that our clients can engage on a deeper level over shared values and purpose, and find new, powerful ways to connect with each other through the metaverse…
First movers in the metaverse
Over the last year of metaverse exploration, we’ve failed fast and experienced many firsts. We believe and have seen the metaverse used to create real meaning and value.
We’ve used the metaverse to host virtual roundtables and bespoke lab spaces, on one such occasion hosting the world’s first metaverse-based international legal panel. We’ve created interactive content hubs and exhibition spaces that the reader can physically engage with and walk through, as though visiting an art gallery. We’ve even created games like the maze we introduced at this year’s Global ABM Conference to much acclaim.
Most importantly of all, we’ve rapidly become accustomed to using the metaverse as a genuinely collaborative tool that – especially with a new focus on flexible working – allows us to work smarter and more closely together.
The people priority
‘Meaningful experiences’ have influenced everything we’ve done in the real world too, especially employee engagement, informed by happiness analytics. This year we rehauled our perks and benefits, making it more individual, like a monthly personal wellbeing fund, instead of a one-size-fits-all gym membership. We’ve launched a new DEI committee. We prioritised CSR. We supported charities with pro bono marketing. And we topped it all off with a trip to Ibiza, a chance for us to connect with each other away from the day job.
Part of something bigger
We also joined the Selbey Anderson network, a group that shares our values of empowerment and trust, which has opened up access to even more innovation, learning and collaboration opportunities.
We’ve grown new Radishes, new clients, created work we’re proud of, and rounded it all off with nominations at the B2B Marketing Awards for Marketing Agency of the Year and Best Use of ABM for our campaign for Applaud.
We’ll never stop thinking about what’s next. But for now, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved as 2021’s Agency of the Year.
Selbey Anderson Group of agencies