Page 29 - AdNews Magazine Jan-Feb 2021

“We have a couple of big new accounts coming on board and some accounts that were quite dormant are coming back in a big way.
“We’ve almost doubled our staff; we’re moving into the new office and actually had to redesign the office to fit in more seats. So it’s going to be a good environment.”
WhiteGrey’s Simpson, who has led his team throughout the pandemic and has also picked up a list of new clients this year, has also noted a pickup in activity in the last months of 2020.
“There’s a lot more activity in the market; we've had a strong new business run rate all the way through,” he tells AdNews.
“We’ve actually had about 10 new clients this year, but even in the past few months there's definitely been more activity. So it feels busy. It feels like off the back of increased consumer confidence and some more positive metrics come out in the broader economy in Australia, there's going to be optimism.
“Maybe cautious optimism, but definitely optimism.”
Small businesses are also reporting an uplift in activity.
Taryn Williams, founder of talent agency The Right Fit, says she’s
seen a bounce back after the depths of the first half of the year, as brands needed new messaging for COVID-19.
“We've also seen a number of brands experience exponential growth during this time so they are investing more into marketing/advertising,” Williams tells AdNews.
In fact, the talent agency has had its biggest four months ever during
Western Sydney University
the end of 2020. New clients were up 15 per cent month-on-month, with November billings up 10 per cent. October was up 21 per cent year-on-year and by mid-Decem- ber it was already busier than pre- vious years for the agency. While Williams is worried about the possible slowdown that could come with the end of JobKeeper and other stimulus incentives in Q1/2 this year, she says she’s see- ing brands shoot more frequently, with the average number of jobs posted per year up for 2020, along with a higher average booking value per job.
Williams has also noted more brands shooting their campaign in Australia when they wouldn’t usu- ally thanks to the success of man- aging COVID-19, as well as the return of talent such as content creators, photographers and actors.
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