Hotwire Group

How would you sum up 2009 for your agency?

A year of expansion and innovation. We have expanded and developed our services and teams to help clients adapt to the changing media and influencer environment. This has been recognised through awards for our work across corporate, technology, digital and consumer.

What was the high point of 2009 for your agency?

A very stable client base built upon with some very exciting additions including VocaLink, Ciao, Cable & Wireless and AutoTrader.

What was the low point of 2009 for your agency?

Witnessing the fallout and casualties from the recession. It has been a tough 12 months for a lot of people and we feel lucky we have managed to grow through this difficult period.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2009, including significant hires and internal promotions.

We treat cultivating and nurturing talent as a an entrepreneurial endeavour so it has been very nice to see people like Alex MacLaverty and Giles Peddy who have come through the ranks be promoted to our UK board. I’m also very excited that we were able to take on 13 graduates across all our Europe offices at a time when the opportunities for people starting their careers are very limited.

What was your best client/account win of 2009 and why?

VocaLink was a great win, helping to establish us firmly in the financial services space. It is a pan-European client and it plays to our strengths of being able to run large scale multidisciplinary campaigns that blend corporate, digital, trade and consumer.

What were your three best campaigns of 2009?

Experian – Retail Insights.

Intuit – Small Business Matters.

We7 – David takes on Goliath viral buzz campaign.

How did the recession affect your performance in 2009 and what trends did you notice throughout the year – e.g. clients taking longer to sign off budgets etc?

We have always been very entrepreneurial as a business, but the recession was a real spur for us to launch new products (e.g. audio visual services, spinning out a specialist digital team) and, while keeping our technology leadership, expand into growth sectors (e.g. clean technology, retail and financial services). This together with a trusted network of clients and fans of the agency meant we had a solid year by our own standards, a fantastic year given the economic climate. We did have our own share of debtors, insolvencies and lengthy decision making processes though.

Of which achievement in 2009 are you most proud?

Recessions don’t happen very often but they are ideal periods for reflection where people can think about going in new directions. I’m pleased that as I write this today we have been able to bring new energy and ideas to our clients and our teams during 2009 such that we have been able to really stick together during this difficult year. Our team has been absolutely amazing and they are the real stars of 2009.

Describe your agency in five words

Brilliant team doing fantastic work.

How have you embraced social media in 2009?

We have given birth to a sister agency, 33 Digital, who are if you like our R&D department for digital PR and ensure we are always at the forefront of new communication trends. Within Hotwire we have developed a media and influencer agnostic methodology which is central to everything we do, which sees digital integrated and at the heart of everything we do rather than being an island of activity.

What are your plans for 2010?

To keep innovating. We plan to launch new research and evaluation services, as well as continue our expansion into clean technology and financial services.

If your agency were an animal, what animal would it be and why?

An owl. We hire incredibly smart people who are very observant of the trends impacting our industry, and how best to capitalise on them for our clients.